It is impossible to analyze the meaning and origin of the word “eureka” without recalling Archimedes. He was born in the 3rd century. BC e. in Sicily, in the Greek city of Syracuse. Today, the name of the scientist is mainly associated with his mathematical work. But in ancient times, he became famous as the inventor of various tools and mechanical devices. It is with this aspect of the activity of Archimedes that the word under study is connected.
Difficult task
Roman architect, mechanic and encyclopedic scientist 1st century BC e. Mark Vitruvius Pollion wrote a treatise on architecture. In it, the author retold a legend directly related to the meaning of the word “eureka”.
It says that King Syracuse Hieron II suspected his jeweler that he had deceived him by making a gold crown. Giron instructed Archimedes to open the fraud, proving that the crown does not consist of pure gold, but of an alloy of this metal with silver. It was assumed that the jeweler appropriated part of the precious material.
Unexpected decision
Archimedes had to work hard to solve the problem, but the answer came to him unexpectedly when he was in the bath. During immersion in water, he saw that it spills onto the floor, and at that moment he made a discovery. It led the scientist to indescribable delight, and he shouted: "Eureka!"
After that, Archimedes naked rushed down the street from the bath house to check his assumption as soon as possible. Summoning the king as witnesses, he took two items: one of them was a crown, and the second - a gold bar, which had the same weight. Alternately, he lowered them into the water. In this case, the crown displaced a greater amount of water than the ingot. And from this it followed that a certain part of the gold was indeed replaced by silver. It has less weight and more volume.
So, according to legend, the law of Archimedes was discovered, which states that a body that is immersed in a gas or liquid is affected by a force - lifting or pushing, which is equal to the weight of the volume of gas or liquid displaced by the body. And the word "eureka" has become synonymous with a discovery made suddenly.
Dictionary Description
The dictionary on the meaning of the word “eureka” says that the lexeme being studied is an interjection, that is, it belongs to the class of unchangeable words that are not included in both the significant and auxiliary parts of speech, and expresses, without naming, an emotional reaction to the environment. It denotes an exclamation in which one hears satisfaction, joy from the solution found or the emergence of a successful thought.
An interesting fact is that in the ancient Greek language εὕρηκα is a verb that has the form of the first person singular and is translated into Russian as “found”.