euphemism

Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

[edit] English

[edit] 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).

[edit] Pronunciation

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

[edit] Noun

Examples

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 or less vulgar than the word or phrase it replaces.
  2. (countable) A word or phrase that is used to replace another in this way.

[edit] Antonyms

[edit] Related terms

[edit] Translations

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.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Personal tools
Namespaces
Variants
Views
Actions
Navigation
Toolbox
In other languages