euro

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   Abbreviation of European, in any sense.

   euro size

2. 2
   noun

   The UEFA European Football Championship, a European football competition held between the international teams of Europe every four years.

   England could have met world and European champions Spain but that eventuality was avoided by Sweden's 2-0 win against France, and Rooney's first goal in a major tournament since scoring twice in the 4-2 victory over Croatia in Lisbon at Euro 2004.

3. 3
   noun

   the basic monetary unit of most members of the European Union (introduced in 1999)

4. 4
   noun

   The currency unit of the European Monetary Union. Symbol: €

5. 5
   noun

   A coin with a face value of one euro.

6. 6
   noun

   Macropus robustus, a wallaroo (macropod species).

7. 7
   adj

   Clipping of European.

8. 8
   noun

   Alternative spelling of euro, the currency and coin introduced 1999.

Etymology

The name euro was the winner of a contest open to the general public to propose names for the new European currency, and as such is technically a neologism, although it obviously alludes to the common root of geographical names for the continent Europe, derived from Latin Europa, from Ancient Greek Εὐρώπη (Eurṓpē), the name in Greek mythology of a princess, abducted by Zeus as a bull across the Bosporus. According to the official story, the term was coined by Belgian teacher and esperantist Germain Pirlot in 1995, who suggested it in a letter to Jacques Santer, then President of the European C…