European

How to spell european

8 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce european

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does european mean?

1. adjectiveRelating to or characteristic of Europe or its people.
2. nounA person who is a native or inhabitant of Europe.

European in a sentence

• adjective

  The bank offers favourable rates on european travel.

• noun

  As a european, she could work freely in several neighbouring countries.

• adjective

  Many european cities banned cars from their historic centres.

• noun

  The survey compared how the average european saves for retirement.

Where does european come from?

Language of origin: Greek

This word is built directly on the place name Europe, to which English added the familiar suffix -an, meaning 'belonging to' or 'relating to', the same ending seen in 'American' and 'Australian'. The name Europe reaches English through Latin Europa, which the Romans took from the Greek Eurṓpē. In Greek mythology Europa was a Phoenician princess carried off by Zeus in the form of a bull, and her name came to label the landmass to the west and north. Scholars have long debated the deeper meaning: one popular reading splits it into eurys 'wide' and ops 'face' or 'eye', giving a sense of 'broad-faced' or 'wide-gazing', though this is more folk interpretation than settled fact, and a Semitic source meaning 'sunset' or 'west' has also been proposed. The adjective and noun 'European' entered English in the 1500s as contact with the wider continent grew. The spelling trap lives at both ends: the opening 'eu' is pronounced 'yoo' rather than spelled the way it sounds, and the unstressed '-pean' ending is easily mangled.

How the word is built

• Europe (the continent)
• -an (adjective/noun suffix: relating to, belonging to)