Greek

en-prop

Greek (countable and uncountable, plural Greeks)

Greeks (plural)
Gr. (alternative abbreviation)
Greeke (alternative obsolete)

Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii.
Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language. In reference to terms used to analysize financial derivatives, from their usual names consisting of Greek letters.

inh+

It’s one that I would personally endorse: My individual circumstances were such that, by the age of 12, I could speak German, Greek and English, so languages became my passion and my hobby.

2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN:

The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek.


Greek

(countable) A person from Greece or of Greek descent.

(uncountable) Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food.

(finance, chiefly in the plural) One of the Greeks, measures of derivative price sensitivity.


Greek

en-verb

Greek (third-person singular simple present Greeks, present participle Greeking, simple past and past participle Greeked)

Greeks (present singular third-person)
Greeking (participle present)
Greeked (participle past)
Greeked (past)
Gr. (alternative abbreviation)
Greeke (alternative obsolete)

(uncommon) Alternative letter-case form of greek.

Greek–English Dictionary: from Webster’s Dictionary


Modern Greek

The Greek language as spoken by the Greek people since the fall of Constantinople in 1453. It was written using polytonic script until 1982, when this was officially dropped in favour of monotonic.


polytonic

Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which employs the rough and smooth breathings and the grave, acute, and circumflex accents. Replaced by the monotonic system in 1982.


monotonic

From Ancient Greek μονότονος (monótonos, “monotone”) + -ικός (-ikós, “-ic”), equivalent to monotone + -ic.

suffix

Of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress. It replaced polytonic system in 1982.

монотонен

of or using the Greek system of diacritics which discards the breathings and employs a single accent to indicate stress


demotic

First attested in 1822, from Ancient Greek δημοτικός (dēmotikós, “common”), from δημότης (dēmótēs, “commoner”), from δῆμος (dêmos, “the common people”).

bor

demotic Greek

Of, relating to, or written in the form of modern vernacular Greek.


Classical Greek

The form of the Ancient Greek language used during the classical period of Greek literature: approximately 600 to 300 BCE.


Ancient Greek

Any of the various forms of the Greek language of classical antiquity, particularly the classical Attic dialect used in Athenian literature.

اللُّغَة الْيُونَانِيَّة الْقَدِيمَة

Wiktionary’s coverage of Ancient Greek terms


Ancient Greek

Ancient Greeks (plural)
ancient Greek (alternative)

Alternative letter-case form of ancient Greek (“a native or inhabitant of Ancient Greece”).


Ancient Greek

Alternative letter-case form of ancient Greek (“of or relating to Ancient Greece”).


Old Greek

(narrower terms)

A form of the Greek language intermediate between Ancient Greek and Modern Greek; spoken roughly between the 1st and 16th centuries.


Demotic Greek

From Greek δημοτική (γλώσσα) (dimotikí (glóssa), “[language] of the people”).

der

δημοτική (γλώσσα)

The Modern Greek vernacular language. It became the official Modern Greek in 1976 when Katharevousa was replaced, and was written in polytonic script until 1982, and in monotonic script after 1982.


Katharevousa

/ˌkaθəˈɹɛvuːsə/

/ˌkɑθəˈɹɛvusɑ/

/ˌkɑθəˈɹɛvəsɑ/

From Greek καθαρεύουσα (katharévousa), feminine of καθαρεύων (katharévon), present participle of Ancient Greek καθαρεύω (kathareúō, “to be clean, pure”).

‘You read the poetry of Cavafy, I have taught you to speak Katharevousa and Italian.’

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 87:

A year later, after much deliberation and public discussion, an act of parliament established that demotic Greek was to replace the hybrid katharevousa as the official language of education – and therefore, in practice, in most walks of life (exceptions are the Church and law).

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 345:

A learned, archaising form of Modern Greek, based on Classical Greek and used for formal and official purposes; it was legally displaced as the official language of Greece in 1976 by Demotic Greek.


Greek alphabet

Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, Ω ω

The 24-letter alphabet of the Greek language, first adopted by Athens in 403 BC and now consisting of the following upper- (majuscule) and lower-case (minuscule) pairs:

Wiktionary:Greek transliteration and Ancient Greek romanization and pronunciation


Hellenic

en-adj

Hellenic (comparative more Hellenic, superlative most Hellenic)

more Hellenic (comparative)
most Hellenic (superlative)

From Ancient Greek Ἑλληνικός (Hellēnikós, “of or relating to Greece or Greeks”), from Ancient Greek Ἑλλάς (Hellás, “Greece”), equivalent to Hellen + -ic.
The English term is a learned borrowing from Ancient Greek formed in the 17th-century, attested from ca. 1640.

der

Of or relating to the ancient Greek culture and civilization before the Hellenistic period.

ellin

of or relating to the ancient Greek culture and civilization

Of or relating to Hellas (Greece) or the Hellenes (Greeks).

হেলেনী

of or relating to Hellas or the Hellenes


Hellenic

The Greek language and its dialects from the earliest records (Linear B inscriptions, about 1600-1300 B.C.E.) to the present Modern Greek.


Proto-Greek

The earliest form of the Greek language, the common ancestor of the Greek dialects, including Mycenaean and the classical Greek dialects.

Wiktionary’s coverage of Proto-Hellenic terms


Mycenaean Greek

The most ancient attested form of the Greek language, spoken on the Greek mainland and on Crete in the 16th to 11th centuries BC, written in Linear B script.

Wiktionary’s coverage of Mycenaean Greek terms


Linear B

Named by British archaeologist Arthur Evans, to distinguish it from the other linear script, Linear A.

(archaeology, linguistics) A syllabary used to write Mycenaean Greek in the second millennium BC, before the invention of the Greek alphabet.


rough breathing

en-noun

rough breathing (plural rough breathings)

The sound equivalent to an initial "h" before a vowel or an "r" in Ancient Greek.


Byzantine Greek

Collectively, the continuum of forms of the Greek language as written and spoken during the time of the Byzantine Empire (C.E. 330–1453), preceded by Koine Greek and Early Medieval Greek and succeeded by Late Medieval Greek to Modern Greek. (ISO 639-3 code: grc shared with Classical Greek.)


Medieval Greek

Mediaeval Greek (alternative)
Mediæval Greek (alternative)
medieval Greek (alternative)
mediaeval Greek (alternative)
mediæval Greek (alternative)

Also see Byzantine Greek.

Collectively, the continuum of forms of the Greek language as written and spoken during medieval times, preceded by Hellenistic Koine Greek and succeeded by Modern Greek


Pre-Greek

Calque of German Vorgriechisch. By surface analysis, pre- + Greek.

A hypothetical language (or languages) conjectured to have been spoken in prehistoric Greece before the arrival of Proto-Greek speakers, and used to explain the large number of non-Indo-European words found in Ancient Greek.


Euclidean alphabet

Named after Euclid, the archon of Athens responsible for its adoption.

The classical Greek alphabet, a modified form of the Ionic alphabet adopted by Athens in 403 BC following its defeat in the Peloponnesian War.


smooth breathing

smooth breathing (plural smooth breathings)

(orthography) A diacritic mark (᾿/◌̓) in Ancient, Medieval and Modern Greek used to indicate the absence of aspiration for an initial vowel, and sometimes for rho, e.g. ἀ, ῤ


Neo-Hellenic

From neo- + Hellenic.
For the proper noun, translation of the endonym νεοελληνική f (neoellinikí, “neo-Hellenic”, adjective), by ellipsis of the noun γλώσσα f (glóssa, “language”) for Modern Greek, ellipsis of Modern Greek language.

see also: koine Neo-Hellenic (Standard Modern Greek)


hyperdorism

/ˈhaɪpɚˌdɔɹɪzm̩/

(linguistics, Hellenics) A hypercorrection or incorrect substitution of non-Doric Ancient Greek word forms and morphology to match those of Doric Greek.

Hyperdorismus

hypercorrection of non-Doric Greek to Doric Greek


hyperaeolism

(linguistics, Hellenics) A hypercorrection or incorrect substitution of non-Aeolic Ancient Greek word forms and morphology to match those of Aeolic Greek.

Hyperäolismus

hypercorrection of non-Aeolic Greek to Aeolic Greek


hyperatticism

(linguistics, Hellenics) A hypercorrection or incorrect substitution of non-Attic Ancient Greek word forms and morphology to match those of Attic Greek.

Hyperatticismus

hypercorrection of non-Attic Greek to Attic Greek


hyperionism

(linguistics, Hellenics) A hypercorrection or incorrect substitution of non-Ionic Ancient Greek word forms and morphology to match those of Ionic Greek.

Hyperionismus

hypercorrection of non-Ionic Greek to Ionic Greek


Greekist

One who studies or emulates the Ancient Greek language or culture.