Everyday LifeGreek → English
Euphemia
/juːˈfiːmiə/noun
A female given name of Greek origin.
The Greek roots
εὖ
eû
well, good
φήμη
phḗmē
speech, repute
Literally: “good speech”
The story of the word
εὐφημία in classical usage meant avoiding ill-omened words during a sacrifice, which in practice meant holding your tongue, so the one word covered both auspicious speech and ritual silence. Euphemism inherits the same manoeuvre of saying something harmless in place of something dangerous. Saint Euphemia was martyred at Chalcedon, and the council of 451 met in the church built over her tomb, which carried the name across Christendom and into Scotland, where it wore down to Effie.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
euphemismblasphemeprophetfame
In a sentence
Her great-aunt Euphemia had signed every letter with all four syllables.
Euphemia appears twice on the family headstone.