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''Utopia'' (''Libellus vere aureus, nec minus salutaris quam festivus, de optimo rei publicae statu deque nova insula Utopia'') is a work of fiction and political philosophy by Thomas More (1478–1535) published in 1516 in Latin. The book is a frame narrative primarily depicting a fictional island society and its religious, social and political customs. ==Title== The title ''De optimo rei publicae deque nova insula Utopia'' literally translates, "Of a republic's best state and of the new island Utopia". It is variously rendered ''On the Best State of a Republic and on the New Island of Utopia'', ''Concerning the Highest State of the Republic and the New Island Utopia'', ''On the Best State of a Commonwealth and on the New Island of Utopia'', ''Concerning the Best Condition of the Commonwealth and the New Island of Utopia'', ''On the Best Kind of a Republic and About the New Island of Utopia'', ''About the Best State of a Commonwealth and the New Island of Utopia'', etc. The 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-"(), meaning "not", and ''topos'' (), "place", with the suffix ''-iā'' () that is typical of toponyms; hence the name literally means "nowhere", emphasizing its fictionality. In early modern English, ''Utopia'' was spelled "Utopie", which is today rendered Utopy in some editions. 〔()〕 A common misunderstanding has that "Utopia" is derived from ''eu-'' (), "good", and "topos", such that it would literally translate as "good place". 〔()〕 In English, ''Utopia'' is pronounced exactly as ''Eutopia'' (the latter word, in Greek (), meaning “good place,” contains the prefix (), "good", with which the of ''Utopia'' has come to be confused in the French and English pronunciation).〔See http://www.phon.ucl.ac.uk/home/wells/blog.htm.〕 This is something that More himself addresses in an addendum to his book ''Wherfore not Utopie, but rather rightely my name is Eutopie, a place of felicitie.''〔''More’s Utopia: The English Translation thereof by Raphe Robynson.'' second edition, 1556, ''in'' ("Eutopism" )〕 One interpretation holds that this suggests that while Utopia might be some sort of perfected society, it is ultimately unreachable (see below). 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Utopia (book)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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