Hyperboreans

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Inhabitants of a mythical land located to the north, characterized by perpetual spring and abundance
2. People from a fabled region celebrated in ancient mythology for their ideal climate and lifestyle
3. Legendary figures associated with a distant, utopian area noted for its extraordinary weather and happiness

Etymology: The Greeks imagined a people living beyond the cold north wind, past the source of Boreas, the god of the north wind. Their name, "Hyperboreoi," was built from "hyper," meaning "over" or "beyond," and "boreios," meaning "northern." So the Hyperboreans were simply the people who lived above or beyond the north, and the myth placed them in a sunny, mild paradise where people lived long, happy lives free from sickness and labour. The name passed into Latin as "hyperboreus," and later Late Latin "hyperboreanus," which gave English the adjective "hyperborean," meaning northern in an extreme sense. The noun form, used for the people themselves, follows the same path. Because the word sounds like "hyper" plus "boreal," English speakers often assume a connection to "boreal," meaning northern, and the two words do share the root "boreas." Their shared sense of northernness is an accident of the surface similarity in form, not a sign that the Greek name was ever read as "hyper-boreal."