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# eureka

«eureka» in Mova's school dictionary: **a cry of joy when you suddenly discover or work out…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

interjection (eureka!); noun (a eureka moment)

### meaning for a pupil

1) «Eureka!» is a cry of joy when you suddenly discover or work out something. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#m1)

2) (noun, as «eureka moment») A eureka moment is the instant when you suddenly understand something or have a great idea. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#m2)

### sense in the lessons

In science lessons, the story goes that the Greek scientist Archimedes shouted «Eureka!» («I have found it!») in his bath when he realised how to measure the volume of a crown by the water it pushed out. In everyday life and stories, «eureka» marks a sudden discovery. Common phrases: «eureka moment», «shout eureka», «a eureka!».

### examples

- «Eureka!» shouted Sam when he finally found the missing puzzle piece. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x1)
- Archimedes is said to have cried «Eureka!» in his bath. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x2)
- I had a eureka moment when the fractions finally made sense. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x3)
- Scientists sometimes have eureka moments, but most discoveries take years of work. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x4)
- California's state motto is «Eureka». [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x5)
- The detective's eureka moment came when she saw the muddy boots. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x6)
- We all said «eureka» when the experiment worked. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/#x7)

### note

Say yoo-REE-kuh. It is a Greek word meaning «I have found it». Use «a eureka moment» (not «an»), because it starts with a «yoo» sound. The bath story about Archimedes may be a legend, but the science of displacement is real.

### In the corpora

- [Pythagoras studied triangles, Archimedes discovered how things float and shouted Eureka, and Eratosthenes measured the size of the Earth with shadows.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/history/12-ancient-greece-democracy-olympics-myths-and-thinkers/17/)
- [Archimedes is said to have noticed this in his bath and shouted "Eureka!", but the story may not be true.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/physics/11-floating-and-sinking/9/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «eureka» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/E/eureka/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.