Eunoia

In rhetoric, eunoia (Ancient Greek: εὔνοιᾰ, romanized: eúnoia, lit.'well mind; beautiful thinking')[1] is the good will speakers cultivate between themselves and their audiences, a condition of receptivity.[2] In Book VIII of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feelings of good will a spouse has which form the basis for the ethical foundation of human life.[3] Cicero translates εὔνοιᾰ with the Latin word benevolentia.[4]

It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health.[5] Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five main vowel graphemes.[1]

See also

  • Iouea, a similarly short word with all the vowels.

References

  1. "Beautiful vowels". Today (BBC Radio 4). BBC. 30 October 2008. Eunoia is the shortest word in English containing all five vowels - and it means "beautiful thought". It is also the title of Canadian poet Christian Bok's book of fiction in which each chapter uses only one vowel.
  2. Garver, Eugene (1994). Aristotle's Rhetoric: An Art of Character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 112. ISBN 9780226284255.
  3. "The Family In Aristotle". Archived from the original on 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  4. 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.
  5. Definition: eunoia from Online Medical Dictionary
  6. Davis, Pete (2012). "Invalids discography". Bandcamp. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  7. There’s going to be a new junior college called Eunoia; here’s how to pronounce it
  8. What kinda weird school name is this la sial?!
  9. Billlie | 'EUNOIA' M/V
  • The dictionary definition of eunoia at Wiktionary


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