eureka
English edit
Etymology edit
From Ancient Greek εὕρηκα (heúrēka, “I have found”), perfect active indicative first singular of εὑρίσκω (heurískō, “to find”). Archimedes supposedly exclaimed this when he figured out how to find the density of an object.
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
eureka
- An exclamation indicating sudden discovery.
- 1821, Byron, Don Juan:
- Eureka! I have found it! What I mean / To say is, not that love is idleness, / But that in love such idleness has been / An accessory, as I have cause to guess.
- 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London, New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:
- "Eureka!" he cried, his teeth shining through his beard. "Gentlemen, you may congratulate me and we may congratulate each other. The problem is solved."
- 1970, Peter Porter, The Sanitized Sonnets, The Last of England:
- A page is turned - eureka, a snatch of tune / is playing itself, the piss-proud syllables / are unveiling a difficult prosody.
Derived terms edit
Translations edit
exclamation indicating sudden discovery
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Noun edit
eureka (uncountable)
- Synonym of constantan (“copper-nickel alloy”)
See also edit
Dutch edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek εὕρηκα (heúrēka, “I have found”), perfect active indicative 1st singular of εὑρίσκω (heurískō, “I find”).
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
eureka
Italian edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Ancient Greek εὕρηκᾰ (heúrēka).
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
eureka
Spanish edit
Pronunciation edit
Interjection edit
eureka
Further reading edit
- “eureka”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014