Mesopotamia
pronunciation
How to pronounce Mesopotamia in British English:
UK [ˌmesəupəˈteimjə]
How to pronounce Mesopotamia in American English:
US [ˌmɛsəpəˈtemiə]
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- Noun:
- the land between the Tigris and Euphrates; site of several ancient civilizations; part of what is now known as Iraq
Word Origin
- Mesopotamia
- ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Greek mesopotamia (khora), literally "a country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + potamos "river" (see potamo-). In 19c. the word sometimes was used in the sense of "anything which gives irrational or inexplicable comfort to the hearer," based on the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she "found great support in that comfortable word Mesopotamia" ["Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable," 1870]. The place was called Mespot (1917) by British soldiers serving there in World War I. Related: Mesopotamian.
Example
- 1. And in mesopotamia for example it extends well into the pre-islamic world .
- 2. King hammurabi of mesopotamia regulated the use of derivatives almost 4000 years ago .
- 3. When the troops go home , democracy will strike no lasting roots in the dust of mesopotamia .
- 4. Babylon , an hour 's drive south of baghdad , dates to ancient mesopotamia .
- 5. The ancient greeks called it mesopotamia , the land between two rivers - tigris and euphrates .