eureka

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interjection eu·re·ka \ yu̇-ˈrē-kə \

Definition of eureka

—used to express triumph on a discovery

See eureka defined for English-language learners

Did You Know?

When people exclaim Eureka! they are reenacting a legendary event in the life of the Greek mathematician and inventor Archimedes. While wrestling with the problem of how to determine the purity of gold, he made the sudden realization that the buoyancy of an object placed in water is equal in magnitude to the weight of the water the object displaces. According to one popular version of the legend, he made his discovery at a public bathhouse, whereupon he leapt out of his bath, exclaimed “Heureka! Heureka!” (“I have found it!”), and ran home naked through the streets. The absence of a contemporary source for this anecdote has done nothing to diminish its popularity over the centuries.

Origin and Etymology of eureka

Greek heurēka I have found, from heuriskein to find; from the exclamation attributed to Archimedes on discovering a method for determining the purity of gold — more at heuristic

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1603

See Words from the same year

eureka

adjective

Definition of eureka

:marked by usually sudden triumphant discovery

a eureka moment

Recent Examples of eureka from the Web

But recently, my daughter sparked a eureka moment about my leg.

— abby langer, SELF, "I Stopped Hating the Huge Scar on My Leg and Started Wearing Shorts," 17 Aug. 2017
His eureka moment came in a New York hotel room while reviewing the original receipts for the steel dies used to make the coins.

— Washington Post, "Did Alexander Hamilton hold this coin?," 1 Aug. 2017
His eureka moment came in a New York hotel room while reviewing the original receipts for the steel dies used to make the coins.

— josh boak, The Seattle Times, "Did Alexander Hamilton hold this coin?," 31 July 2017
That provides a parallel to Uncle Lester’s problem that leads to a eureka moment for both of them.

— neil genzlinger, New York Times, "Review: In ‘The Man in the Ceiling,’ Jules Feiffer Adapts Himself," 14 June 2017
There were very few eureka moments in Comey's testimony.

— charles p. pierce, Esquire, "We Were Close to a Eureka Moment During James Comey's Testimony," 8 June 2017
He was partly inspired by visits to incubators around the world, but the eureka moment was a realization that there was a commercial property glut in much of China outside of Beijing and Shanghai that needed a solution.

— Bloomberg.com, "UrWork Takes on WeWork in Fight for China's Shared Office Spaces," 22 May 2017
The eureka moment was when Nikola Jokic snatched a rebound with one hand, dribbled from under his own basket to past the halfcourt stripe and fed teammate Danilo Gallinari for a dunk during the Nuggets’ 103-93 victory against the Utah Jazz.

— mark kiszla, The Denver Post, "Kiszla: If Nuggets center Nikola Jokic isn’t voted to NBA All-Star Game, the election was rigged," 24 Jan. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'eureka.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.