euphemism

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1656; from Ancient Greek εὐφημισμός (euphēmismos), from εὐφημίζω (euphēmizō), from εὔφημος (euphēmos, “uttering sound of good omen, abstaining from inauspicious words”), from εὖ (eu, “well”) + φήμη (phēmē, “a voice, a prophetic voice, rumor, talk”), from φάναι (phanai, “to speak, say”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: yoo͞'fə-mĭz"(ə)m, IPA: /ˈjuː.fəˌmɪ.z(ə)m/, X-SAMPA: /"ju:f@%mIz(@)m/

Noun

euphemism (countable and uncountable; plural euphemisms)

1. (uncountable) The use of a word or phrase to replace another with one that is considered less offensive, blunt or vulgar than the word or phrase it replaces.
2. (countable) A word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way.

Antonyms

• dysphemism
• expletive

Related terms

• euphemistic

Translations

use of a word or phrase to replace another word with one considered less offensive

• Bulgarian: евфемизъм (bg) m (evfemizǎm)
• Catalan: eufemisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 委婉語 (cmn), 委婉语 (cmn) (wěiwǎnyǔ)

• Czech: eufemismus (cs) n
• Dutch: verbloeming (nl), eufemisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: eŭfemismo (eo), evitvorto (eo)
• Finnish: kiertoilmaus (fi), kiertoilmaisu (fi), eufemismi (fi)
• French: euphémisme (fr) m
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Euphemismus (de) m
• Greek: ευφημισμός (el) m (effimismós) (effimismós)
• Hungarian: eufemizmus (hu)

• Italian: eufemismo (it) m
• Japanese: 婉曲法 (ja) (えんきょくほう, enkyokuhō)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: еуфемизам (mk) (eufemízam) m
• Malay: bahasa halus (ms)
• Polish: eufemizm (pl) m
• Portuguese: eufemismo (pt) m
• Romanian: eufemism (ro) n
• Russian: эвфемизм (ru) (evfemízm) 
• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Spanish: eufemismo (es) m
• Ukrainian: евфемізм (uk) m (evfemizm)

word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way

• Armenian: մեղմասացություն (hy) (mełmasacʿutʿyun) 
• Catalan: eufemisme (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 委婉語 (cmn), 委婉语 (cmn) (wěiwǎnyǔ)

• Czech: eufemismus (cs) n
• Dutch: eufemisme (nl) n
• Finnish: kiertoilmaus (fi), kiertoilmaisu (fi), eufemismi (fi)
• French: euphémisme (fr) m
• German: Euphemismus (de) m
• Greek: ευφημισμός (el) m (effimismós) (effimismós)

• Icelandic: veigrunarorð (is) n, fegrunarheiti (is) n, skrautyrði (is) n, skrauthvörf (is) n
• Italian: eufemismo (it) m
• Japanese: 婉曲表現 (ja) (えんきょくひょうげん, enkyoku hyōgen)
• Macedonian: еуфемизам (mk) (eufemízam) m
• Polish: eufemizm (pl) m
• Romanian: eufemism (ro) n
• Russian: эвфемизм (ru) (evfemízm) 
• Spanish: eufemismo (es) m
• Volapük: föemot (vo)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Korean: 완곡어법 婉曲話法

• Latin: euphemismus m
• Lithuanian: eufemizmas m
• Romanian: eufemism n

External links

• Euphemism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Euphemism in the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
• euphemism in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• euphemism in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• euphemism at OneLook Dictionary Search