European

1 of 2

adjective

Eu·​ro·​pe·​an ˌyu̇r-ə-ˈpē-ən How to pronounce European (audio)
-ˈpēn
: of, relating to, or characteristic of Europe or its people
Europeanness noun

European

2 of 2

noun

1
: a native or inhabitant of Europe
2
: a person of European descent

Examples of European in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Adjective
Octopus Baja is Delgado’s ode to historic spice trade routes, a Mexican seafood concept at 2731 K St. in midtown Sacramento that is unafraid to draw from Japanese, Peruvian and European cuisines. Benjy Egel, Sacramento Bee, 4 Mar. 2024 Travelers who are hoping to plan an epic European summer vacation should start planning now since experts recommend booking flights to the continent at least six months in advance — and even up to 10 months before a trip. Alison Fox, Travel + Leisure, 4 Mar. 2024 Their upcoming European tour will feature complete performances of 1990’s Bossanova and 1991’s Trompe Le Monde at every stop. Andy Greene, Rolling Stone, 4 Mar. 2024 Biden was lauded for his response; European leaders had wrongly predicted that Vladimir Putin was bluffing, but the Administration had released accurate intelligence in advance, which fortified Biden’s bid to rally NATO allies. Evan Osnos, The New Yorker, 4 Mar. 2024 While registering trademarks is not unusual in soccer, women's players are, however, invisible in the European IP protection sphere. Samuel Petrequin, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024 Ever since Federico Fellini’s La Strada won the first competitive international Oscar in 1957, the prize has gone to a European country 57 times — a staggering total compared to the nine Asian winners, five winners from the Americas and three from Africa. Tyler Coates, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024 Fashion for Good conducted a similar pilot study to evaluate European textile waste. Brooke Roberts-Islam, Forbes, 21 Feb. 2024 Following a European tour that’s ongoing from now until late March, Ellis-Bextor will play seven shows across North America in the spring, hitting a handful of major cities. Sadie Bell, Peoplemag, 21 Feb. 2024
Noun
Margrethe Vestager, the European Union’s top antitrust enforcer, announced a nearly $2 billion fine against Apple on Monday for imposing a 30% commission on subscriptions made to rival music streaming services on Apple products. Emma Hinchliffe, Fortune, 5 Mar. 2024 In January, the global average temperature measured 1.66 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial reference period, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. World & Nation The planet is dangerously close to this climate threshold. Hayley Smith, Los Angeles Times, 5 Mar. 2024 Since 2014, though, when the European Union passed the Directive on collective management of copyright and related rights and multi-territorial licensing, European societies have had to compete for online rights in the EU, and many other countries have opened up as well. Robert Levine, Billboard, 5 Mar. 2024 The ruling by the European Court of Human Rights has no effect in the United States; only the 46 European countries that signed the European Convention on Human Rights are subject to the court’s jurisdiction. Joseph Menn, Washington Post, 5 Mar. 2024 Globally, mean temperatures have exceeded 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-Industrial levels for more than a year, according to the Copernicus Climate Change Service of the European Space Agency. Karl Schneider, The Indianapolis Star, 5 Mar. 2024 The European Union condemned those attacks while expressing solidarity with the troubled nation. Nimi Princewill, CNN, 4 Mar. 2024 Alongside its investigation into Apple’s App Store policies, the European Commission has also been looking at Apple’s policy of restricting the iPhone’s tap-top-pay NFC (near-field communication) to its own wallet and payment services. Jon Porter, The Verge, 4 Mar. 2024 In recent years, two spacecraft missions have been sent to study the Sun’s corona, namely NASA’s Parker Solar Probe and the Solar Orbiter, the latter a joint mission of ESA (European Space Agency) and NASA. George Dvorsky / Gizmodo, Quartz, 4 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'European.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1555, in the meaning defined above

Noun

1578, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of European was in 1555

Dictionary Entries Near European

Cite this Entry

“European.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/European. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

European

1 of 2 adjective
Eu·​ro·​pe·​an ˌyu̇r-ə-ˈpē-ən How to pronounce European (audio)
: of or relating to Europe or its people

European

2 of 2 noun
1
: a person born or living in Europe
2
: a person of European ancestry
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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