The Only Use

epithet
in
Othello, the Moor of Venice
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Three great ones of the city, In personal suit to make me his lieutenant, Off-capp'd to him:—and, by the faith of man, I know my price, I am worth no worse a place:—But he, as loving his own pride and purposes, Evades them, with a bumbast circumstance Horribly stuff'd with epithets of war: And, in conclusion, nonsuits My mediators: for, "Certes," says he, "I have already chose my officer."†
Scene 1.1

Definitions:

(1) (epithet as in: racial epithet)
an insulting or abusive word or phrase used to refer to a person or group
(2) (epithet as in: earned the epithet, "The Great")
a descriptive word or phrase used with a name or in place of it

An epithet often highlights a special quality of a person, place, or thing—such as Alexander the Great, The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln, The Big Apple for New York City, or man's best friend for a dog.
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
In botany, a specific epithet or epithet is the word identifying the species.