The Only Use of

epithet
in
Oliver Twist

The shop-boys in the neighbourhood had long been in the habit of branding Noah in the public streets, with the ignominious epithets of 'leathers,' 'charity,' and the like; and Noah had bourne them without reply.†
Chpt 5

Definitions:

(1) (epithet as in: racial epithet)
an insulting or abusive word or phrase
(2) (epithet as in: earned the epithet, "The Great")
a descriptor added to a person's name -- as in Alexander The Great

or:

a phrase used in place of a name or word -- such as: The Big Apple for New York, The Great Emancipator for Abraham Lincoln, or man's best friend for dog
(3) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)
meaning too rare to warrant focus:

In botany, a specific epithet or epithet is the word identifying the species.