eureka

¹

[yoo-ree-kuh, yuh-]

interjection

1. (initial capital letter),  I have found (it): the reputed exclamation of Archimedes when, after long study, he discovered a method of detecting the amount of alloy mixed with the gold in the crown of the king of Syracuse.

2. (used as an exclamation of triumph at a discovery.)

Eureka

²

[yoo-ree-kuh, yuh-]

noun

1. a city in NW California.

eureka

/ jʊˈriːkə /

interjection

1. an exclamation of triumph on discovering or solving something

Eureka!

1. A Greek word meaning “I have found it!” An exclamation that accompanies a discovery: “When she finally located the rare book, the scholar cried, ‘Eureka!’” (See Archimedes.)

Word History and Origins

Origin of eureka¹

1560–70; < Greek heúrēka, 1st person singular perfect indicative of heurískein to find, discover

Word History and Origins

Origin of eureka¹

C17: from Greek heurēka I have found (it), from heuriskein to find; traditionally the exclamation of Archimedes when he realized, during bathing, that the volume of an irregular solid could be calculated by measuring the water displaced when it was immersed

Example Sentences

Oracle’s databases ran on any hardware system, a decision that was really Ellison’s first big Eureka moment and why Oracle came to dominate the database business.

Read more on Barron's

That might seem commonplace now, but it was a Eureka moment for Goodall: Like humans, chimpanzees not only use tools but actually make them.

Read more on Salon

Last September the state filed a similar lawsuit against a Catholic hospital in Eureka after a woman whose water broke at 15 weeks was denied an emergency abortion.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Eureka Day” will make you laugh, but how much this production will make you think is an open question.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

“Eureka Day,” a comedy by Jonathan Spector that wades into the debate on vaccine mandates, has only become more explosively topical since its 2018 premiere at Aurora Theatre Company, in Berkeley, Calif.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• amazement 
• astonishment 
• awe 
• bewilderment 
• consternation 
• curiosity 
• disappointment 
• jolt 
• miracle 
• revelation 
• shock 
• wonder