• euphoria •
Pronunciation: yu-for-ri-ê • Hear it!
Part of Speech: Noun, mass (no plural)
Meaning: A feeling of intense happiness and well-being.
Notes: Today's word comes with two derivations: the adjective is euphoric. A drug inducing euphoria is a euphoriant. Just remember the [f] sound is spelled here PH and the [yu] sound is spelled EU.
In Play: Euphoria usually accompanies good fortune: "After the euphoria that Manley felt on hearing of his promotion, he fell into a funk thinking about the added responsibilities of his new job." Again: "The very thought of getting her daughter married and out of the house sent Gretchen into a state of high euphoria."
Word History: Today's Good Word was transliterated letter for letter from Greek euphoria "well-bearing, the ability to hold up well" from euphoros "bearing up well". The Greek word is composed of eu "well" + pherein "to bear, carry" from PIE root bher-/bhor- "to bear, carry". Eu is the adverb for eus "good", inherited from PIE esu- "good, well", seen also in Sanskrit su- "good". PIE bher-/bhor- is found in thousands of words throughout the Indo-European languages. English bear and bairn "baby" (which was born), Russian brat' "to take", Latin ferre "to carry", whence the English borrowing ferry, Greek pherein "to carry", whose combining form is -phor, as in amphora, metaphor, and euphoria. (Today's joyous Good Word was recommended by Albert Skiles, no doubt in a fit of euphoria, for it came with 8 others.)
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