Recorded since 1656; fromAncient Greekεὐφημισμός(euphēmismós), fromεὐφημίζω(euphēmízō), fromεὔφημος(eúphēmos,“uttering sound of good omen, abstaining from inauspicious words”), fromεὖ(eû,“well”) +φήμη(phḗmē,“a voice, a prophetic voice, rumor, talk”), fromφημί(phēmí,“to speak, say”).
a.1803,James Beattie, “Of Rhetorick”, inElements of Moral Science, volume III, Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, published1809, section I,page118:
Akin to it [litotes] iseuphemism, which may be applied to the same purpose.
2019 July 26, David J. Ulin, “Op-Ed: I’m Jewish and I don’t say this lightly: ‘Never again’ is right now in America”, inLA Times[1]:
In 1946, George Orwell addressed the relationship of language to reality and suggested thateuphemism, not imperfect analogy, was the real danger. If we don’t use shocking language to describe a shocking circumstance, can we truly recognize what is happening?
(countable) A word or phrase that replaces another in this way.
a.1803,James Beattie, “Of Rhetorick”, inElements of Moral Science, volume III, Philadelphia: Hopkins and Earle, published1809, section I,page118:
When it is said of the martyrSt. Stephen, that “he fell asleep,” instead of—he died, theeuphemism partakes of the nature of metaphor, intimating a resemblance between sleep and the death of such a person.
Euphemistic language turns up in many areas of American life in a variety of situations. Not alleuphemisms are alike, but they have one thing in common: They obscure meaning rather than enhance it; they shade the truth.
euphemism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Euphemism in theEncyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)