hyperborean
/ˌhaɪ.pɚˈboɹ.i.jɪn/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.35 in modern English
21
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Pertaining to the extreme north of the earth; or (usually humorous) to a specific northern country or area.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of hyperborean.
Example Sentences
- "The Hyperboreans venerated Apollo over the other gods."
- "The hyperborean or frozen sea."
- "Hovv, by the fineſt art, the native robe / To vveave; hovv, vvhite as hyperborean ſnovv, / To form the lucid lavvn; […]"
- "You could have knelt down, damn it, Kinch, when your dying mother asked you, Buck Mulligan said. I’m hyperborean as much as you. But to think of your mother begging you with her last breath to kneel down and pray for her. And you refused."
- "Amongst the fish that the Nautilus frightened as it passed, I will cite the metre-long cyclopteroid with a black back and orange stomach, providing an example of conjugal fidelity rarely followed by its congeners, a huge Forsskal's stingray, a sort of emerald moray eel which has a excellent taste, big-eyed carracks whose heads resemble dogs', blennies viviparous like snakes, 20-centimetre frillgobies or black gudgeons, and Macrura with long tails and shining with a silvery glitter: quick fish that had ventured far from hyperborean seas."
Etymology
From Late Latin hyperboreanus, cognate with Classical Latin hyperboreus, from Ancient Greek ὑπερβόρεος (huperbóreos), composed of ὑπέρ (hupér, “over”) + βόρειος (bóreios, “northern”). By surface analysis, nearly hyper- + boreal. See also Ὑπερβόρεοι (Huperbóreoi).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌhaɪ.pɚˈboɹ.i.jɪn/
- British English: /hʌɪ.pəˈbɔː.ɹɪən/