I have been meaning to google for the origination of the word "Eleuthera" for some time. As most websites have it, including mine, Eleuthera is derived from the Greek word for "Freedom". Since I have some Greek heritage and took a little Latin in high school, I was curious to know more about the word, and particularly its elements. Now I know:
eleuthero-, eleuther- (Greek: free, freedom)
eleutherarch
Eleutherian
eleutherism
eleutherodactyl
Eleutherodactylous
eleutheromania
eleutheropetalous
eleutherophilia
eleutherophobia (an irrational dread of freedom)
eleutherophyllous
meleutherosepalous
"Found it interesting" department: "Eu" is Greek for good, well, normal; happy, pleasing; used as a prefix. I drilled down on "Eu", and found many interesting derivatives like "Eucalyptus", "eulogy", "euphony" (neat word -- look it up!), and "Eugene", which is my cousin's name -- no doubt he'll be thrilled to learn this. (He's your man if you're looking for cactus, succulents and lithops.)
I am relieved to know I don't have eleutherophobia, however I would like to know if there's a treatment for eleutherophilia.
Thanks to the folks at Wordinfo.
That should pretty much cover the origination of "Eleuthera", right?
Copyright © 2005 Perry Joseph
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