Utopia by Thomas More ’A little, true book, not less beneficial than enjoyable, about how things should be in a state and about the new island Utopia’) is a work of fiction and socio-political satire by Thomas More (1478–1535), written in Latin and published in 1516.
The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social, and political customs. Many aspects of More’s description of Utopia are reminiscent of life in monasteries.
The first created original name was even longer:
Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia. This translates, ’A truly golden little book, no less beneficial than entertaining, of a republic’s best state and of the new island Utopia’.
Utopia is derived from the Greek prefix ’ou-’ (οὔ), meaning ’not’, and
topos (τόπος), ’place’, with the suffix
-iā (-ίᾱ) that is typical of toponyms; the name literally means ’nowhere’, emphasizing its fictionality. In early modern English,
Utopia was spelled ’Utopie’, which is today rendered
Utopy in some editions.
In fact, More’s very first name for the island was
Nusquama , the Latin equivalent of ’no-place’, however he eventually opted for the Greek-influenced name.
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