Everyday LifeGreek → English
Eulalia
/juːˈleɪliə/noun
A female given name of Greek origin.
The Greek roots
εὖ
eû
well, good
λαλεῖν
laleîn
to talk, chatter
Literally: “sweetly speaking”
The story of the word
λαλεῖν is not oratory but ordinary talk, the verb for using your mouth, so Eulalia promises pleasant speech rather than a good education. Saint Eulalia of Mérida died in the persecutions around 304, and the Sequence of Saint Eulalia, written about 880, is the oldest surviving piece of French literature. The same verb gives glossolalia and echolalia, two names for speech that has slipped its owner's control.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
Same family
glossolaliaecholaliaeulogyeuphemism
In a sentence
Eulalia is still a common name across Catalonia and Andalusia.
Her grandmother, Eulalia, refused every shortening anyone tried.