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Europe existed as a conceptual construct long before geographers began arguing whether there are seven continents or six (the latter model considers Europe and Asia to be a single continent). The ancient Greeks divided the world into three major units: Europe, Asia, and Libya, the last of which referred to the known northern portion of Africa. Those were the divisions that Ptolemy used when he laid out his map of the world in the Guide to Geography (Geōgraphikē hyphēgēsis) in the 2nd century CE. So the notion of Europe is very old, but where does the name come from?
There are a number of theories. Taking a linguistic approach, some scholars believe Europe’s name is descriptive in origin. Those who look to the ancient Greek language to parse it roots combine eurys, meaning “wide,” and ops, meaning “face” or “eye,” to arrive at “wide-gazing” as an appropriate description of Europe’s broad shoreline as seen from the shipboard perspective of the maritime Greeks. By extension, they believe this phrase connotes “mainland.” Adventurous travelers who got closer to the northern lands reported the existence of mountain systems and river basins that were much larger than those of the Mediterranean region, along with climates that were very different from those the Greeks experienced, not to mention expansive primeval forests and sweeping steppes.
Other scholars have argued that the origin for the name Europe is to be found in the Semitic Akkadian language that was spoken in ancient Mesopotamia. They point to the Akkadian word erebu, meaning “sunset,” and reason that, from the Mesopotamian perspective, the western-setting sun descended on Europe. As a corollary, they cite the Akkadian word for sunrise, asu, from which they believe the name Asia is derived. From a Mesopotamian ground zero, the eastern-rising sun would have ascended from Asia.
A competing theory locates the eponym for Europe in mythology, specifically in the many versions of stories about the goddess Europa, some of which date back millennia. One of the oldest versions identifies Europa as one of the Oceanides, the 3,000 sea nymphs who occupied a lower tier in the hierarchy of Greek mythology. Europa was one of only 41 of these minor deities who were thought worthy of naming. Other versions link Europa with Demeter, the goddess of earth and agriculture. Although it is not certain which name came first, it has been presumed that Europa was a local pre-Greek name for an earth goddess, whereas Demeter is a Greek or Greekified name for a more regional deity. In the best-known version of the Europa myth, Europa—the daughter either of Phoenix or of Agenor, king of Phoenicia—was abducted by Zeus, who had disguised himself as a white bull. Zeus spirited her away from Phoenicia to Crete, where she bore him three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthys, and Sarpedon.
No one knows for sure the origin of Europe’s name, but it certainly stuck.
When man expanded the territory he inhabited and discovered new regions, he needed to give them a name . Sometimes it designated them with some geographic characteristic or with the one of its settlers, and thus the denominations of continents or countries were born that lasted until today. In this article we will explain where the word Europe comes from, what is its origin and why it is called like that.
The EuroAsia peninsula
Europe forms with Asia what is called EuroAsia, there is no marked separation between the two portions of the immense continent and some geographers consider it as a vast peninsula located in western Asia.
The origin of the word Europe
For the ancient Assyrians and other Semitic peoples who inhabited Asian Mesopotamia, that region was the twilight, or Ereb, where the sun was setting. Europe comes, then, from Ereb .
Greek mythology
The word Europe may have a mythological origin. Europe was the daughter of Phoenix to which the god Zeus, with the appearance of a bull, abducted her, taking her to the island of Crete.
If you answered that it was named after a woman with a big face, the goddess Europa, the ancient Greek word for shoreline or the ancient Phoenician word for ‘land of the setting sun’, you are – at least partly – correct.
FIND OUT MORE:
To mark European Day of Languages (26th of September) we have answered this and several other questions about European languages, below.
- Where does the word Europe come from?
- What is the European Day of Languages?
- How many languages are there in Europe?
- What are the oldest languages in Europe?
- How many European languages does Rosetta Stone teach?
Where does the word Europe come from?
The exact etymology of the word Europe is not certain, but these are the most commonly given answers to the question. For the Phoenicians, Europe was the land where the sun set – everywhere West of them. The Greek goddess Europa certainly featured in the ancient myths and though the size of her face is not certain, the ancient Greek words for wide and face suggest it’s a possibility (eurys and ops). The Greek word for shoreline or mainland also could be at the route of what we still call Europe.
What is the European Day of Languages?
The European Day of Languages is a chance to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe. Every 26th of September, schools, museums and communities mark the occasion with events and celebrations all over the continent. Now in its 20th year, the day is a good opportunity to celebrate all the richness of Europe and, of course, a great opportunity to start learning one of Europe’s many languages!
How many languages are there in Europe?
More than you might think. There are actually well over 200 languages spoken on the continent of Europe, though many of these are not national languages or ones you would expect to have to learn unless you were very local to the area. The European Union has 24 official languages.
What are the oldest languages in Europe?
Part of the mission of the European Day of Languages is to raise awareness about the shrinking diversity of languages on the continent. Some of Europe’s oldest languages are also some of the most endangered ones. It’s hard to measure the age of a language, but those European languages thought to be the most ancient include Basque, Gaelic, Greek and Lithuanian.
How many European languages does Rosetta Stone teach?
Twelve of the 24 languages Rosetta Stone teaches are European. Dutch, French, German, Greek, Irish (Gaelic), Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, English. With Rosetta Stone Unlimited you can access all of them in just one account.
Explore 24 languages in one account
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Where did the name Europe come from?
Nick Metcalfe, New Mills, UK
- Europa — a lover of Zeus from Greek mythology. To protect her from his jealous wife, Zeus appeared as a white bull who swam to safety across the ocean with Europa on his back.
R Watkin, Oxford
- From the Phoenician word EROB, meaning where the sun set (west of Phoenicia).
Roy Nicol, Toronto Canada
- From fecund EUROPA: a Phoenician princess carried off by Zeus in the form of a white bull and by him mother of Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon.
Trevor, Newcastle UK
- EUROPA — Overcome by the Phoenician woman’s beauty, but sensing her shy nature, Zeus changed himself into a white bull. Europa was attracted to this majestic animal, and was soon riding on the bull. At that point, Zeus started running over the waves, leaving Europa’s native Sidon and friends behind. The ride was smooth, as the sea nymphs created a waveless path for the travellers. The couple ended up on Crete, where Europa bore Zeus three sons: Minos, Rhadamanthus, and Sarpedon. Minos became king of Crete; Rhadamanthus a judge in the underworld.
Odysseus Mikalis, Rockville USA
- (From «The New First Aid in English» ISBN 0 7169 4409 x):
«Some say it was named Eref by the Phoenicians, meaning ‘the land of the setting sun’ … Others say it was named after Europus, a town in Macedonia»
Mike Whittaker, Stapleton UK
- Europa, Europe comes from the Phoenician word EROB, meaning where the sun set (west of Phoenicia,west of Bosphorus, Sea of Marmora).
Erebo: I go under.
Ereba: The land where I go under.
Acu (pronounciatian asu) the land where I (the sun) are coming up:
Ereb, ereba= europa
Asu = Asie, Asia.Morningland-Eveningland, seen by the Phoeniciers
That’s why Bosphorus always has been the geographical border between Europe and Asia.
Anatolie /= Asia-minor,which forms 97% of todays Turkey, comes from greeche language and means : east, east of what ? East of European Greece!
Hans Thijssens, Amsterdam Netherlands
- perhaps from the Greek word Euros meaning ‘broad’.
N S, London, England
- It`s greek. Like everything else
that is important!Panos Protos, Malmö, Sweden
- Europa is a rendering of the Colkhian word for affection, love(of the Motherland of the Colkh/Iberian population that cradled their civilization from Western Iberia(at the Atlantic Ocean) to the Zagros Range in the East(Zagr means the mountain range in Colkhiberian i.e. Kartuli.
Natela Popkhadze, Tbilisi Georgia/Sakartvelo
- They ran out of all the cool Greek myth names.
Hannah, Huntington Beach England
- From a pré-Greek goddess.After her, the region in Thracia, river, towns and about 20 mortal and immortal Europa’s mentioned in the Greek Mythos, have been named.In the 5th c. BC it was suggested that the continent’s name came from a seanimf, daughter of Oceanus, or from Zeus’ partner Europe, who had been given later a Phoenician descent together with a new family. www.europesname.com
Peter Gommers, Antwerp Belgium
- They changed their name to ‘Europe’ from ‘Force’ in 1982. Gotta love that Swedish big haired pomp rock!!
Max, Truro UK
- There is a vedic word, Hariupia. Could that be a forerunner of the word,Europa?
It is claimed that Harappa is a name derived from Hariupia which Sanskritic scholar Umesh Chandra Vidyaratna did not indicate.Samir, kolkata india
- The earlier answers provided are true in myth and sadly, true in recent fact. However, the union between Miss Europa and Zeus is coming to its end.
Europa now speaks in a new slavic language, Euro-rip-ov’. The new translation being ‘Euro-Rip-Off’.
The poor old Greek god Zeus still thinks he should be able to retire at 50 and have the old and now demented Europa pay for his retirement?
It’s going to be interesting to see how this myth Pans out(maybe, pun intended).
Alec Ohare, Sydney, Australia
- Ah…. Europe is said to be named after a greek godess named Europa. According to the Greek mythology she had set to travel the whole world with Zeus, disguised in the form of a white bull. And the portions she had covered were together named after her… that is the continent of Europe. (Apparently she didnt cover much which explains why Europe is so small ~ just kidding).
Btw, has anyone noticed? My name too is Europa. haha
Europa, India
- EUR = GOLD (See: Origin of French word «Or»)
OP = EYE (Compare: «Cyklop» and optician)
***GOLDEN EYE***
Or maybe:
***GOLDEN AGE***
Opa: is a kind of Greek «exclamation for a great way of life» Thus, a golden civilization or «Golden Age» (…following the previous Iron Age)
Al Mighty, Stockholm Sweden
- EU= Hebrew
RO= Roma
PA= PaxJari Martikainen, Lahti, Finland Suomi
- my wife and i were asking the question just last night where did Europes name originate and of course we googled it.
Thanks for all the great info!My wife and I were asking the question just the other night: Where did Europe’s name originate from? And, of course, we Googled it. Thanks for all the great info.
David Fulton, Calgary Canada
Add your answer
ince the creation of this publication, we have talked endlessly about the historical happenings of Europe, going as back as the first civilizations to conquer the continent. Although we have spoken a lot about this continent that many of us call home, we have never spoken about how the continent got its name.
To find this out, we must go back to the origin of the Greek pantheon and the stories associated with it. Most importantly, the story of Zeus and the white bull.
Zeus and the white bull
As with many things in Greek mythology, our story starts with Zeus. The god of gods was known for his escapades in the world of the living, coming down from the mount of Olympus to influence the mortal plane as he saw fit. This was the case when he saw the daughter of Agenor, the king of Phoenicia.
Zeus was so impressed by the woman’s beauty that he decided that he must go down and woo her. As he came down from Olympus, he transformed himself into a white bull, a rare and beautiful sight that many attributed to the influence of gods. Once Zeus met the daughter of the king, he abducted her by putting her on his back and headed toward the island of Crete.
There the daughter, whose name was Europa, gave birth to three sons of Zeus. Minos (who would later become the king of Crete), Rhadamanthys ( who would become the king of the Cyclades Islands), and Sarpedon (who would become the king of Lycia). After this, Zeus would leave Europa on Crete, where she settled down and married Asterius, the king of Crete at the time, who took her now fatherless sons under his wing. Europa would be worshipped by the island’s inhabitants leading to her name spreading across the Agean sea.
Europa’s name would become closely associated with the earth, with some accounts of Ancient Greece even describing Europa as being named the goddess of the earth. As such, her name became widely used to describe what we now know as Europe when maps started to partition Europe as a continent apart from all other landmasses around it.
Other theories
Linguists point to other theories about the provenance of Europe’s naming. Many point toward Greece once again and put forward the theory that the name Europe comes from two Greece words, εὐρύς (Anglicised: eurys), which means wide, and ὤψ (Anglicised: ops), which means either face or eye depending on its use.
Together εὐρύςὤψ means “wide-gazing,” a name that many arrived to due to Greek maritime experience on the Mediterranean sea, which they as saw as being stretched as wide as the eyes could see.
Another theory points to the civilization of Mesopotamia and the language they used as the roots for the name. In the language of the civilization, specifically Semitic Akkadian, the word for ‘sunset’ was erebu and the word for ‘sunrise’ was asu. Linguists point towards this as the provenance of the word Europe as Europe was west of the old Mesopotamia empire, thus the name ‘erebu’ being used to describe it as well as Asia being east of Mesopotamia leading to the theory of the etymology of the name for Asia, namely the Semitic Akkadian ‘asu’, being put up as an option.
The exact provenance of the etymology of Europe is still debated by many scholars as the reference of the continent being referred to as Europe goes back to times when records weren’t kept as accurately as we do today. As such many of the theories of the etymology of Europe are just guesses. Without a new revolutionary discovery, we might never know the exact point Europe started being called Europe.
