Euro

How to spell euro

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce euro

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does euro mean?

1. nounThe single currency used by many member states of the European Union.

Euro in a sentence

• The hotel quoted the room rate in euro rather than pounds.

• She exchanged her holiday savings into euro before the flight to Spain.

Where does euro come from?

Language of origin: Greek

The euro is a deliberately modern coinage rather than an inherited word. Its name was formally adopted by the European Council meeting in Madrid in December 1995, when ministers settled on a short, neutral label that would read and sound much the same across many languages. The word is simply the first part of 'Europe' cut short, and 'Europe' itself goes back through Latin Europa to the Greek Eurṓpē, the name of a figure in ancient myth whom later writers attached to the western landmass. Because it was designed for clear pronunciation in dozens of tongues, the spelling was kept plain and the official rule even fixed the singular and plural as 'euro' in legislative texts. For an English writer the only mild trap is the silent run of vowels at the start, 'eu', which here makes a 'yoo' sound; the word entered everyday English use as the notes and coins began circulating on the first of January 2002.

How the word is built

• euro (clipped from Europe, the continent the currency serves)