hyperborean
pronunciation
How to pronounce hyperborean in British English:
UK [ˌhaɪpəbɔ:'ri:ən]
How to pronounce hyperborean in American English:
US [ˌhaɪpə'boʊrɪrn]
-
- Noun:
- (Greek mythology) one of a people that the ancient Greeks believed lived in a warm and sunny land north of the source of the north wind
Word Origin
- hyperborean (adj.)
- 1590s, from Late Latin hyperboreanus, from Latin hyperboreus, from Greek hyperboreos "pertaining to the regions of the far north," from hyper (see hyper-) + Boreas (see boreal). The Hyperboreans were an imagined Arctic people believed by the ancients to be distinguished by piety and happiness. Middle English had iperborie "the far north of the Earth" (mid-15c.).