Etymograph

English

hyperborean

Hyperborean comes from Latin hyperboreus, and goes back to Ancient Greek ὑπερβόρειος.

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑπερβόρειος
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhyperboreus
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEhyperboreanus
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1633hyperborean

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEὑπερβόρειος
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEhyperboreus
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEhyperboreanus
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1633hyperborean

Earliest quotation: 1633, C. Butler: “The hyperborean or frozen sea.”

Formed from hyper- + boreal

Proto-Indo-European *úp

Proto-Indo-European *upér ‘over, above’

Proto-Hellenic *hupér

Ancient Greek ὑπέρ ‘over’

English hyper-

Ancient Greek Βορέᾱς ‘personification of the north wind’

Latin Boreās

Latin boreālis ‘northern’

English boreal

Every English word from Ancient Greek ὑπερβόρειος

Today it means

noun One of a race of people living in the extreme north, beyond the north wind.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Ancient Greek ὑπερβόρειος / hyperborean

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