utopia

See also: Utopia, utópia, utopía, utopią, and útópía

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

Etymology tree
Ancient Greek οὐ (ou)
Ancient Greek τόπος (tópos)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂
Proto-Hellenic *-íā
Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā)
New Latin Ūtopiader.
English utopia

    From New Latin Ūtopia, the name of a fictional island possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Coined from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, “not”) + τόπος (tópos, “place, region”) + -ία (-ía).[1] Compare English topos and -ia.

    Pronunciation

    • (UK) IPA(key): /juːˈtəʊ.pi.ə/
    • Audio (Southern England):(file)
    • (US) IPA(key): /juˈtoʊ.pi.ə/
    • Hyphenation: u‧to‧pi‧a
    • Rhymes: -əʊpiə
    • Homophone: eutopia

    Noun

    utopia (countable and uncountable, plural utopia or utopias or utopiae)

    1. A world in which everything and everyone works in perfect harmony.
      • 1945, Chimera: A Literary Quarterly, page 22:
        Errors in time must be kept in mind when analyzing myths and utopiae. Utopiae are merely projections, on a less personal and wider scale, of Cinderella’s longing for a happy future.
      • 1959, Civilisations, page 426:
        « Some peoples of Central or South Africa have conceived downright utopiae which enable them to build up a reality more tolerable than that in which they have to live daily ».
      • 1962 August, G. Freeman Allen, “Traffic control on the Great Northern Line”, in Modern Railways, page 131:
        As everyone knows, almost all booked passenger and freight trains are diagrammed into rosters for engines and men, and in an operating Utopia everything would work out daily according to plan.
      • 1974, The Chesterton Review, page 262:
        Efficiency for the sake of efficiency, unchallenged authority conferred upon those who know well a few things and ignore everything else, disdain for the ordinary and humble elements that introduce happiness in our lives, worship of unattainable utopiae, are some of the features of the scheme which leads inevitably to the suppression of the eternal gifts bestowed by God upon every human person and to the frightful prospect of being ruled by what he vividly names “the Empire of the Insect.”
      • 1979, Ian Scott-Kilvert, editor, British Writers, →ISBN, page 242:
        Orwell had correctly seen that the achievement of Wells’s ideas would be far from the frivolity of “Utopiae full of nude women” and visions of “super garden cities.”
      • 1979, Folk-lore, page 118:
        An interesting observation is that folk verses while talking of high standards of morality refer only to precedent generations and not to would-be utopiae, which in fact would rule out the possibility of evolution of a civilization absent before.
      • 1995, Cynthia Robinson, Palace Architecture and Ornament in the "Courtly" Discourse of the Muluk Al-tawaʻif: Metaphor and Utopia, pages 96, 326, and 582:
        According to his model, palace and poetry function in tandem in order to communicate to an audience the ideas of utopiae of power, victory, eternity, and perfection. […] The ruins function, not as an evocation of past civilizations, but as the setting for the poet's dallying and revelry in youthful pleasures; his "noble companions" (probably Christians, given the reference to the length of their hair) are subjugated to the length of their pleasure, a reference to the "stopping of time", one of the utopiae out of which was constructed the licentious world of the khamriyya. […] I believe that these two utopiae are related to a profound consciousness, on the part of taifa royalty and courtiers, of the particular mutability of their reality: […]
      • 2006, Können uns und euch und niemand helfen, →ISBN, page 121:
        So in order to conclude, how can we combine all these different aspects of the characteristic cross-relationship of negative and positive utopiae which are to be understood as counter projects to what there actually is?
      • 2013 May 10, Audrey Garric, “Urban canopies let nature bloom”, in The Guardian Weekly‎[1], volume 188, number 22, archived from the original on 9 May 2024, page 30:
        As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field.

    Synonyms

    Antonyms

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    • → Bengali: ইউটোপিয়া (iuṭōpiẏa)
    • → Chinese: 烏托邦 / 乌托邦 (wūtuōbāng)
    • → Hindi: यूटोपिया (yūṭopiyā)
    • → Japanese: ユートピア (yūtopia)
    • → Kannada: ಯುಟೊಪಿಯ (yuṭopiya)
    • → Korean: 유토피아 (yutopia)
    • → Malayalam: ഉട്ടോപ്യ (uṭṭōpya)
    • → Malay: utopia
    • → Tamil: யுட்டோபியா (yuṭṭōpiyā)
    • → Thai: ยูโทเปีย
    • → Tibetan: ཡུལ་ཏོ་པི་ཡ (yul to pi ya)

    Translations

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Craig, John (F.G.S.). A New Universal Etymological, Technological, and Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language, Embracing All the Terms Used in Science, Literature and Art. Vol. II. George Routledge & Company, London 1858, p. 1001.

    Albanian

    Noun

    utopia

    1. definite nominative singular of utopi

    Catalan

    Pronunciation

    Noun

    utopia f (plural utopies)

    1. utopia

    Derived terms

    Further reading

    Danish

    Noun

    utopia

    1. alternative form of utopi

    Esperanto

    Etymology

    Etymology tree
    Esperanto utopio
    Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂
    Proto-Italic *-ā
    Latin -ader.
    ▲
    Latin -a
    Italian -ader.
    ▲
    Latin -a
    Old Spanish -a
    Spanish -ader.
    Esperanto -a
    Esperanto utopia

      From utopio + -a.

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /utoˈpia/
      • Audio:(file)
      • Rhymes: -ia
      • Syllabification: u‧to‧pi‧a

      Adjective

      utopia

      1. utopian

      Further reading

      Finnish

      Etymology

      From New Latin Utopia, the name of a fictional island, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Coined from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, “not, no”) + τόπος (tópos, “place, region”).

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /ˈutopiɑ/, [ˈut̪o̞ˌpiɑ̝]
      • Rhymes: -iɑ
      • Syllabification(key): u‧to‧pi‧a
      • Hyphenation(key): uto‧pia

      Noun

      utopia

      1. utopia

      Declension

      Inflection of utopia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
      nominative utopia utopiat
      genitive utopian utopioiden
      utopioitten
      partitive utopiaa utopioita
      illative utopiaan utopioihin
      singular plural
      nominative utopia utopiat
      accusative nom. utopia utopiat
      gen. utopian
      genitive utopian utopioiden
      utopioitten
      utopiain rare
      partitive utopiaa utopioita
      inessive utopiassa utopioissa
      elative utopiasta utopioista
      illative utopiaan utopioihin
      adessive utopialla utopioilla
      ablative utopialta utopioilta
      allative utopialle utopioille
      essive utopiana utopioina
      translative utopiaksi utopioiksi
      abessive utopiatta utopioitta
      instructive — utopioin
      comitative See the possessive forms below.
      Possessive forms of utopia (Kotus type 12/kulkija, no gradation)
      first-person singular possessor
      singular plural
      nominative utopiani utopiani
      accusative nom. utopiani utopiani
      gen. utopiani
      genitive utopiani utopioideni
      utopioitteni
      utopiaini rare
      partitive utopiaani utopioitani
      inessive utopiassani utopioissani
      elative utopiastani utopioistani
      illative utopiaani utopioihini
      adessive utopiallani utopioillani
      ablative utopialtani utopioiltani
      allative utopialleni utopioilleni
      essive utopianani utopioinani
      translative utopiakseni utopioikseni
      abessive utopiattani utopioittani
      instructive — —
      comitative — utopioineni
      second-person singular possessor
      singular plural
      nominative utopiasi utopiasi
      accusative nom. utopiasi utopiasi
      gen. utopiasi
      genitive utopiasi utopioidesi
      utopioittesi
      utopiaisi rare
      partitive utopiaasi utopioitasi
      inessive utopiassasi utopioissasi
      elative utopiastasi utopioistasi
      illative utopiaasi utopioihisi
      adessive utopiallasi utopioillasi
      ablative utopialtasi utopioiltasi
      allative utopiallesi utopioillesi
      essive utopianasi utopioinasi
      translative utopiaksesi utopioiksesi
      abessive utopiattasi utopioittasi
      instructive — —
      comitative — utopioinesi
      first-person plural possessor
      singular plural
      nominative utopiamme utopiamme
      accusative nom. utopiamme utopiamme
      gen. utopiamme
      genitive utopiamme utopioidemme
      utopioittemme
      utopiaimme rare
      partitive utopiaamme utopioitamme
      inessive utopiassamme utopioissamme
      elative utopiastamme utopioistamme
      illative utopiaamme utopioihimme
      adessive utopiallamme utopioillamme
      ablative utopialtamme utopioiltamme
      allative utopiallemme utopioillemme
      essive utopianamme utopioinamme
      translative utopiaksemme utopioiksemme
      abessive utopiattamme utopioittamme
      instructive — —
      comitative — utopioinemme
      second-person plural possessor
      singular plural
      nominative utopianne utopianne
      accusative nom. utopianne utopianne
      gen. utopianne
      genitive utopianne utopioidenne
      utopioittenne
      utopiainne rare
      partitive utopiaanne utopioitanne
      inessive utopiassanne utopioissanne
      elative utopiastanne utopioistanne
      illative utopiaanne utopioihinne
      adessive utopiallanne utopioillanne
      ablative utopialtanne utopioiltanne
      allative utopiallenne utopioillenne
      essive utopiananne utopioinanne
      translative utopiaksenne utopioiksenne
      abessive utopiattanne utopioittanne
      instructive — —
      comitative — utopioinenne
      third-person possessor
      singular plural
      nominative utopiansa utopiansa
      accusative nom. utopiansa utopiansa
      gen. utopiansa
      genitive utopiansa utopioidensa
      utopioittensa
      utopiainsa rare
      partitive utopiaansa utopioitaan
      utopioitansa
      inessive utopiassaan
      utopiassansa       		utopioissaan
      utopioissansa
      elative utopiastaan
      utopiastansa       		utopioistaan
      utopioistansa
      illative utopiaansa utopioihinsa
      adessive utopiallaan
      utopiallansa       		utopioillaan
      utopioillansa
      ablative utopialtaan
      utopialtansa       		utopioiltaan
      utopioiltansa
      allative utopialleen
      utopiallensa       		utopioilleen
      utopioillensa
      essive utopianaan
      utopianansa       		utopioinaan
      utopioinansa
      translative utopiakseen
      utopiaksensa       		utopioikseen
      utopioiksensa
      abessive utopiattaan
      utopiattansa       		utopioittaan
      utopioittansa
      instructive — —
      comitative — utopioineen
      utopioinensa

      Derived terms

      compounds

      Further reading

      Anagrams

      Italian

      Etymology

      From New Latin Utopia, the name of a fictional island, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Coined from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, “not, no”) + τόπος (tópos, “place, region”).

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /u.toˈpi.a/
      • Rhymes: -ia
      • Hyphenation: u‧to‧pì‧a

      Noun

      utopia f (plural utopie)

      1. utopia
        Antonym: distopia

      Derived terms

      Further reading

      • “utopia”, in Vocabolario Treccani on line (in Italian), Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 2026

      Polish

      Etymology

      Borrowed from French utopie, from New Latin Utopia, the name of a fictional island, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system, in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Coined from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, “not, no”) + τόπος (tópos, “place, region”).

      Pronunciation

      • IPA(key): /uˈtɔ.pja/
      • Audio:(file)
      • Rhymes: -ɔpja
      • Syllabification: u‧to‧pia

      Noun

      utopia f

      1. utopia
        Synonym: mrzonka

      Declension

      Declension of utopia
      singular plural
      nominative utopia utopie
      genitive utopii utopii, utopij1
      dative utopii utopiom
      accusative utopię utopie
      instrumental utopią utopiami
      locative utopii utopiach
      vocative utopio utopie

      1Archaic.

      Derived terms

      adjectives
      adverb
      • utopijnie
      nouns

      Further reading

      • “utopia”, in Wielki słownik języka polskiego‎[3] (in Polish), Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
      • “utopia”, in Polish dictionaries at PWN‎[4] (in Polish)

      Portuguese

      Etymology

      From New Latin Utopia, the name of a fictional island, possessing a seemingly perfect socio-politico-legal system in the book Utopia (1516) by Sir Thomas More. Coined from Ancient Greek οὐ (ou, “not, no”) + τόπος (tópos, “place, region”).

      Pronunciation

      • (Brazil) IPA(key): /u.toˈpi.ɐ/

      • Hyphenation: u‧to‧pi‧a

      Noun

      utopia f (plural utopias)

      1. utopia
        Antonym: distopia

      Derived terms

      Further reading

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