Words & WritingGreek → English
Euphemism
/ˈjuːfəmɪzəm/noun
A mild word or phrase used in place of one that sounds harsh or blunt.
The Greek roots
εὖ
eû
well, good
φήμη
phḗmē
speech, utterance
Literally: “speaking well”
The story of the word
In Greek ritual, εὐφημεῖν meant either to keep holy silence or to say only auspicious things, because the wrong word could invite what it named. That is why the Furies were addressed as the Εὐμενίδες, the kindly ones, and why the Black Sea was called Εὔξεινος, hospitable, when it was anything but. The word entered English rhetoric in the 1650s as a named figure of speech.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 1650s
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
eulogyblasphemydysphemismprophet
In a sentence
Letting people go is a euphemism nobody in the room believed.