Dictionary of Phrase and Fable—U

Utopia

properly means nowhere (Greek, ou topos). It is the imaginary island of Sir Thomas More, where everything is perfectthe laws, the morals, the politics, etc. In this romance the evils of existing laws, etc., are shown by contrast. (1516.) (See Weissnichtwo.)

Utopia, the kingdom of Grangousier.
When Pantagruel' sailed thither from France and had got into the main ocean, he doubled the Cape of Good Hope and made for the shores of Melinda. “Parting from Medamoth, he sailed with a northerly wind, passed Medam, Gelasem, and the Fairy Isles; and keeping Uti to the left and Uden to the right, ran into the port of Utopia, distant about three and a half leagues from the city of the Amaurots.” (Medamoth, from no place; Medam, nowhere; Gelasem, hidden land; Uti, nothing at all; Uden, nothing; Utopia, no place, distant three and a half leagues from Amauros, the vanishing point - all Greek.)

(See Queubus.)

Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
Utopian
Utilitarians
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