Hyperborean

[ hahy-per-bawr-ee-uhn, -bohr-, -buh-ree- ]

noun

1. Classical Mythology. one of a people supposed to live in a land of perpetual sunshine and abundance beyond the north wind.
2. an inhabitant of an extreme northern region.

adjective

1. of or relating to the Hyperboreans.
2. (lowercase) of, relating to, or living in a far northern region.

Hyperborean

/ ˌhaɪpəˈbɔːrɪən /

noun

1. Greek myth one of a people believed to have lived beyond the North Wind in a sunny land
2. an inhabitant of the extreme north

adjective

1. sometimes not capital of or relating to the extreme north
2. of or relating to the Hyperboreans

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hyperborean¹

< Latin hyperbore ( us ) < Greek hyperbóreos beyond the north wind, northern, polar ( hyper- hyper- + boréas the north, the north wind) + -an; Boreas

Word History and Origins

Origin of Hyperborean¹

C16: from Latin hyperboreus, from Greek huperboreos, from hyper- + Boreas the north wind

Example Sentences

In the remotest North, so far away it was at the back of the North Wind, was a blissful land where the Hyperboreans lived.

From Literature

A Hyperborean wouldn’t be scared senseless up here, or worried about getting down.

From New York Times

I half hoped Kronos had been squashed under that Hyperborean giant’s butt, but I knew better.

From Literature

“Neither disease nor bitter old age is mixed / in their sacred blood,” the poet Pindar wrote of the Hyperboreans in the fifth century B.C.

From The New Yorker

The Hyperborean was cradling a Native American totem pole wrapped in furs, humming to it like a baby.

From Literature

Related Words

• bitter
• bleak
• brisk
• chilled
• cool
• crisp
• frigid
• frosty
• frozen
• icy
• intense
• raw
• snowy
• wintry