Eureka

How to spell eureka

6 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce eureka

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does eureka mean?

1. interjectionAn exclamation of triumph on making a discovery or finally solving a problem.
2. nounUsed before another noun to describe a sudden moment of insight or discovery.

Eureka in a sentence

• interjection

  Eureka, the engineer shouted when the prototype finally powered on.

• noun

  The new pricing strategy came to her in a single eureka moment over coffee.

• interjection

  After weeks of dead ends, she let out a quiet eureka when the figures finally balanced.

• noun

  The team had a genuine eureka instant when the two datasets finally aligned.

Where does eureka come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is a direct borrowing of the Greek heureka, the first-person perfect form of the verb heuriskein, which meant 'to find' or 'to discover'. Translated plainly, heureka means 'I have found it', and it carries the satisfied tone of someone who has just solved a problem. Tradition credits the cry to the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes, who is said to have leapt from his bath shouting it after realising how to measure the volume of an irregular object. English adopted the word in the early modern period, and by the nineteenth century it had become a stock exclamation for any sudden breakthrough. The same Greek root for finding survives quietly in the word 'heuristic', a method of discovery, which is a useful reminder that 'eureka' begins with the same 'eu' that gives spellers pause.

How the word is built

• heur- (Greek heuriskein, to find)
• -eka (perfect-tense ending meaning 'I have'); literally 'I have found it'