Eunoia
- For the book by Canadian poet Christian Bök, see Eunoia (book).
Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five main vowel graphemes. It comes from the Greek word εὔνοια, meaning "well mind" or "beautiful thinking."[1] It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health.[2]
In rhetoric, eunoia is the goodwill a speaker cultivates between himself and his audience, a condition of receptivity.[3] In book eight of Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feelings of goodwill a spouse has which form the basis for the ethical foundation of human life.[4] Cicero translates eunoia with the Latin word benevolentia.[5]
In popular culture
- Eunoia (book) is a work by poet Christian Bök consisting of five chapters, each one using only one vowel.
- In the science-fiction television series Earth: Final Conflict, Eunoia is the name of the native language of the Taelon race. Bök was a consultant on that series and helped develop the language.
See also
- English words with unusual properties
- Iouea, a similarly short word with all the vowels.
References
- ^ news.bbc.co.uk, Beautiful vowels
- ^ Definition: eunoia from Online Medical Dictionary
- ^ Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character
- ^ The Family In Aristotle
- ^ Gloria Vivenza, "Classical Roots of Benevolence in Economic Thought," Ancient Economic Thought (Routledge, 1997) pp. 198–199, 204–208 online; Cicero's influence on patristic usage, Carolinne White, Christian Friendship in the Fourth Century (Cambridge University Press, 1992, 2002), pp. 16–17 online, 32, and p. 255, note 13.