Greece

→ Korean: 그리스 (Geuriseu)

→ Thai: กรีซ (grìis)

→ Iban: Gerika

From Middle English Grece, from Old French Grece, from Latin Graecia, from Ancient Greek Γραικός (Graikós). Replaced Old English Grēcland, also from the same Latin source.

Southeast Europe
Southeast Europe#English

Hellenic Republic
Hellenic Republic#English

A country in Southeast Europe. Official name: Hellenic Republic. Capital and largest city: Athens.


Greek

en-proper noun

Greek (countable and uncountable, plural Greeks)

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+

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


Athens

From Middle English Athens, from Old French Athenes, Atenes, from Latin Athēnae pl (acc. Athēnās), from Ancient Greek Ἀθῆναι pl (Athênai), the plural form of Ἀθήνη (Athḗnē, “Athena”) (q.v.), the goddess. More at Athena.

Limestone County
Limestone County#English

A city, the county seat of Limestone County, Alabama.

A sizable city, the county seat of Clarke County, Georgia, consolidated with Clarke County as Athens-Clarke County.

Several places in the United States:
A city in Menard County, Illinois.

A city, the county seat of Athens County, Ohio.

A city, the county seat of McMinn County, Tennessee.

Henderson County
Henderson County#English

A city, the county seat of Henderson County, Texas.


Attica

Alternative form: Attika

A periphery where Athens, the capital of Greece, is located.


Thracian

/ˈθɹeɪʃi.ən/

(countable) An inhabitant of Thrace, regardless of ethnicity.

(countable) A member of a group of tribes who spoke the language Thracian. (See Wikipedia's article on the Thracians.)


Thracian

/ˈθɹeɪʃi.ən/

(uncountable) the extinct language formerly spoken in Thrace.


Crete

One of the thirteen peripheries of Greece, consisting of Chania, Iraklion, Lasithi and Rethymno.


Epirot

From Ancient Greek ἠπειρώτης (ēpeirṓtēs), from ἤπειρος (ḗpeiros, “mainland, inland country”).

he would cry out as Pyrrhus did, admiring the Roman docility and courage, if such were my Epirots, I would not despair the greatest design that could be attempted to make a Church or Kingdom happy.

An inhabitant or a resident of ancient or modern Epirus, in northwest Greece and southern Albania.


Thessaly

From Ancient Greek Θεσσαλία (Thessalía).

A region in north-central Greece; one of its 13 peripheries. It contains the prefectures of Karditsa, Larissa, Magnesia and Trikala.


Thrace

From Latin Thrācia, from Ancient Greek Θρᾴκη (Thrā́ikē), from Θρᾷξ (Thrâix, “Thracian”), from base of θράσσω (thrássō, “to trouble, stir”) and -ιξ (-ix) (compare Φοῖνιξ (Phoînix, “Phoenician”) and Κίλιξ (Kílix, “Cilician”)).

A historical and geographic area in southeast Europe, now divided between Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey.


Euboean

An inhabitant of Euboea in central Greece.


Laconia

A region in the southern Peloponnese, Greece, which has had Sparta as its capital for over 3,000 years.


Peloponnese

From Ancient Greek Πελοπόννησος (Pelopónnēsos) directly and via Latin Peloponnesus, from Πέλοψ (Pélops, “Pelops”) + νῆσος (nêsos, “island”).

der

Πελοπόννησος

A peninsula in Greece, separated from mainland Europe by the Gulf of Corinth and connected to it by the Isthmus of Corinth.

A periphery of Greece containing Achaea, Arcadia, Argolis, Corinthia, Elis, Laconia, and Messenia.


Epirus

From Latin Ēpīrus, from Ancient Greek Ἤπειρος (Ḗpeiros, “mainland”).

伊庇鲁斯大区

Yībìlǔsī Dàqū

A region in northwest Greece; one of the thirteen peripheries (administrative regions) of modern Greece.

伊庇鲁斯大区

Yībìlǔsī Dàqū


Corinthian

en-adj

Corinthian (comparative more Corinthian, superlative most Corinthian)

more Corinthian (comparative)
most Corinthian (superlative)

/kəˈɹɪnθiən/


Corinthian

/kəˈɹɪnθiən/

An inhabitant or a resident of Corinth, and its suburbs.

An inhabitant, a resident of; a thing that originates from Corinthia


Ionian Islands

A group of islands in the Ionian Sea – one of the 13 peripheries of Greece. The main islands are Cephalonia, Corfu, Ithaca, Kythira, Lefkada, Paxoi and Zante.


Thessaloniki

From Greek Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloníki), from Ancient Greek Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloníkē), named for Thessalonike daughter of Philip II, half-sister of Alexander the Great, and wife of Cassander of Macedonia, from Θεσσᾰλός (Thessalós, “Thessalian”) + νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”), possibly named for her birth on the anniversary of the Battle of Crocus Field.

der

A port city in northern Greece, the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia.

Alexander the Great
Battle of Crocus Field
Cassander
Philip II of Macedonia
Thessalonike of Macedon
Thessaloniki

Thessalonica

now chiefly ancient and medieval contexts


Samothracian

/sæməʊˈθɹeɪʃən/

/sæməʊˈθɹeɪʃi.ən/

/sæmoʊˈθɹeɪʃən/

Borrowed from French Samothracien, from Latin Samothraciensis. Alternatively, it could be analyzed Samothrace + -ian.

An inhabitant or a resident of Samothrace.


Mediterranean Sea

Calque of Late Latin Mare Mediterraneum.


periphery

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *per-der.
Ancient Greek περί (perí)
Ancient Greek περῐ- (peri-)
Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-
Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti
Proto-Hellenic *pʰérō
Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō)
Ancient Greek περιφέρω (periphérō)
Proto-Indo-European *-os
Proto-Indo-European *-ēs
Ancient Greek -ης (-ēs)
Ancient Greek περιφερής (peripherḗs)
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-ih₂der.
Ancient Greek -ια (-ia)
Ancient Greek περιφέρεια (periphéreia)bor.
Latin peripheriabor.
Middle French peripheriebor.
English periphery
Borrowed from Middle French peripherie. Compare Middle English periferie (“one of three layers of atmosphere (lower, middle, and upper) believed to surround the Earth”), from the same origin, although the Modern English term most likely does not descend from it.

m+

A first-rank administrative division of Greece, subdivided into provinces.


Aegean Sea

Partial calque of Latin Aegaeum mare, itself a partial calque of Ancient Greek Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος (Aigaîon pélagos).

der

Αἰγαῖον πέλαγος

A sea in the northeastern part of the Mediterranean.

Egeïese See

sea of the northeastern part of the Mediterranean Sea

ທະເລເອເຈໂອ

tha lē ʼē chē ʼō


Griko

From the Greko dialect Greek Γκρίκο (Gkríko) and Γρῆκος (Grîkos).

An ethnically Greek people of southern Italy and Sicily, descended from Byzantine and ancient Greek colonies.


Greco-

Greco-Roman wrestling is an Olympic sport bringing back the style of the Ancient Greeks and Roman physicality.

Greek, often in reference to ancient Greece.


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.


philhellene

From Ancient Greek φιλέλλην (philéllēn), corresponding to phil- + Hellene.


Hellene

From Ἕλληνες (Héllēnes, “Greeks”), most probably a derivation of Ἑλλοί (Helloí) or Σελλοί (Selloí), the Greek inhabitants of the area around the sanctuary of Dodona (Δωδώνη (Dōdṓnē)). In Greek mythology Ἕλλην (Héllēn), whom the Ἕλληνες (Héllēnes, “Greeks”) were named after, was the son of Δευκαλίων (Deukalíōn) and Πύρρα (Púrrha).


Athenian

Here the satire is directed against the passion of the Athenians for the excitement of the law-courts[…]

1872, William Lucas Collins, chapter V, in Aristophanes, page 101:

An inhabitant, resident, or citizen of Athens, Greece.

atenès

an inhabitant, resident, or citizen of Athens, Greece


Athenian

Of or related to Athens, particularly (historical) ancient Athens, its empire, and its people.


Central Greece

A traditional geographic region of Greece.


Horologium

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Horologium.wav

Christian Huygens
Horologium (constellation)
Horologium Oscillitorium
Nicolas Louis de Lacaille
Solarium Augusti
Tower of the Winds

See horologium. As a location in Rome, a clipping of Latin Hōrologium Augustī (“Sundial of Augustus”). As a constellation, a clipping of Latin Hōrologium Oscillitorium (“Pendulum Clock”), coined in 1763 by the French astronomer De Lacaille to honor the Dutch astronomer and mathematician Christian Huygens, who had written a major work by that name.

bor

Tower of the Winds
Tower of the Winds#English

(historical) Synonym of Tower of the Winds, a monument in ancient Athens that included a clepsydra and multiple prominent sundials.


Hellenism

en-noun

Hellenism (countable and uncountable, plural Hellenisms)

Either via French hellénisme or Latin Hellēnismus or directly from Ancient Greek Ἑλληνισμός (Hellēnismós, “imitation of the Greeks”), from Ἕλλην (Héllēn, “a Greek”).

helénismus

characteristics of ancient Greek culture

hel·lenisme

culture and civilization of the Hellenistic period

The modern-day revival of the polytheistic religious system of Ancient Greece.


Homer nods

Horace acknowledges that honeſt Homer''' nods ſometimes: He is not equally awake in every Line: […]

1677, John Dryden, “The Authors Apology for Heroique Poetry; and Poetique Licence”, in The State of Innocence, and Fall of Man: An Opera. Written in Heroique Verse, and Dedicated to Her Royal Highness, the Duchess, London: Printed by T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, at the Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange, →OCLC:

Thoſe are but Stratagems which Errors ſeem, / Nor is it Homer Nods, but We that Dream.

1709, Alexander Pope, An Essay on Criticism, London: Printed for W. Lewis in Russell-street, Covent-Garden; and sold by W. Taylor at the Ship in Pater-Noster-Row, T. Osborn in Grays-Inn near the Walks, and J. Graves in St. James's-Street, published 1711, →OCLC, page 12:

He [de Vigneul-Marvin] knows that Homer''' nods sometimes, and that Faults are found in the beſt writers. He is an Author himself, and conſequently may commit an Over-ſight as well as Pindar, Virgil, Horace, and all the moſt celebrated Ancient and Modern Authors.

1713, [Jean] de la Bruyere, N[icholas] Rowe, “Of M. de la Bruyere’s Book, entitul’d, The Characters: Or the Manners of the Present Age”, in The Works of Monsieur De La Bruyere. In Two Volumes. Containing, I. The Moral Characters of Theophrastus. II. The Characters, or, The Manners of the Present Age. III. M. Bruyeres Speech upon His Admission into the French Academy. IV. An Account of the Life and Writings of M. Bruyere. By Monsieur Coste. … Revis’d by the Paris Edition: With an Original Chapter, Of the Manner of Living with Great Men: Written after the Method of M. Bruyere, by N. Rowe, Esq., 6th edition, volume I, London: Printed for E[dmund] Curll, at the Dial and Bible, and J. Pemberton, at the Buck and Sun; both against St. Dunstan's Church in Fleetstreet, →OCLC, page 102:

And Homer nods: The Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles played in this year's NFC championship, not NFL championship as we said in a Friday follow-up (since corrected).

2009 April 27, James Taranto, “When Pigs Flu: But … but … Mexico has Socialized Medicine!”, in The Wall Street Journal, archived from the original on 2016-03-22:

Alternative form of even Homer nods (“not even the most vigilant and expert are immune to error”).


Grecian

From Latin Graecia + -an. Compare Old French grecien and Middle English grecan, grecen, greken, grekin.

Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.

1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103:

He was a young man with a scornful mouth and the bright blue eyes of a healthy baby set in a dark sensitive face. His hair was pitch black, damp and curly—the hair of a Grecian statue gone brunette.

1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Offshore Pirate”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 11:

(obsolete or poetic) Greek (of or from Greece or the Greek people, especially those of Ancient Greece).


double eagle

When a legion pitched its camp, the eagle was placed in its centre; and if it happened that two legions encamped together, they erected upon the limits of the two camps a double eagle, with heads and wings opposed.

1865, The Eclectic Magazine of Foreign Literature, Science, and Art, page 294:

The black imperial double eagle is better known and still features on the Albanian national flag.

2011, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire 1495-1806, Macmillan International Higher Education, →ISBN, page 115:

That the donors were members of the local Byzantine aristocracy is shown by the double eagle on one of the female donors' attire and demonstrates the continuation of artistic production by the Byzantine elite in Venetian Crete.

2018, Eirini Panou, The Cult of St Anna in Byzantium, Routledge, →ISBN:

A representation of an eagle with two heads, as in the heraldic arms of Russia and Austria and in iconography from Antiquity onward (especially in the Roman Empire).


carry owls to Athens

en-verb

carry owls to Athens (third-person singular simple present carries owls to Athens, present participle carrying owls to Athens, simple past and past participle carried owls to Athens)

carries owls to Athens (present singular third-person)
carrying owls to Athens (participle present)
carried owls to Athens (participle past)
carried owls to Athens (past)

bring owls to Athens
bring owls to Athens#English

Alternative form of bring owls to Athens


Olympianism

(uncommon) Synonym of Hellenism (the modern-day revival of the polytheistic religious system of Ancient Greece).


Greek fire

“There is yet spirit in him,” said Malvoisin apart to Mont–Fitchet, “were it well directed — but, like the Greek fire, it burns whatever approaches it.”

(historical) A highly flammable substance of unknown composition first used by the Greeks of Constantinople in the 7th century C.E. to set fire to enemy ships, buildings etc.


bouzouki

From Greek μπουζούκι (bouzoúki, “bouzouki”), from Turkish bozuk (“out of order, rotten”). Doublet of buzuq.

The bouzouki itself, identified by this time almost equally with a ‘Turkish’ past and with the criminality of the underworld that cultivated it, became a symbol of subversion in the eyes of the authorities.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 262:

(music) A Greek long-necked plucked fretted lute with a sharp, metallic sound.


Ionian Island

Any of the seven Ionian Islands: Corfu, Ithaca, Kefallonia, Kythira, Lefkada, Paxoi and Zante.


Selected by the European Union as the 3-digit number fastest to dial on cellular and rotary phones without the likelihood of accidental dialing caused by hanging up a landline telephone, sometimes interpreted by phone networks as a 1.

When you call 112 in the United Kingdom, the call is automatically rerouted to 999 operators.

The telephone number for emergency services on all GSM cell phones and in the EU, Russia, United Kingdom, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Ukraine, Cameroon, Ghana, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, the Seychelles, Uganda, East Timor, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, North Macedonia, Vatican City, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, and Saint Vincent.


Thessalonian

/θɛsəˈləʊnɪ.ən/

Derived from Thessalonica. Appears as "Tessalonyans" in Tyndale Bible of 1525, but as "Tessalonicensis" in the older Wycliffe translation.

Someone or something from, or pertaining to, Thessaloniki


Parthenon

/ˈpɑːɹθənɑːn/

From Ancient Greek Παρθενών (Parthenṓn), from παρθενών (parthenṓn, “women's chamber”), from παρθένος (parthénos, “virgin; young woman”).

An ancient temple to Athena and monument in the city of Athens. It is a symbol of Greek achievement in the arts and of Athenian democracy.


Greek Orthodox Church

A group of Eastern Orthodox churches comprising the churches of Constantinople, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Cyprus and Greece.


Venizelist

en-adj

Venizelist (comparative more Venizelist, superlative most Venizelist)

more Venizelist (comparative)
most Venizelist (superlative)

From the name of Eleftherios Venizelos (1864–1936), Greek politician.

Four Venizelist republicans listened to Hector and wondered bitterly how it was that all the bands had somehow ended up with a committee of three leaders who were Communist and were against Britain, the only country that had ever tried to help them since the war began.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 229:

But the events of that Friday became the signal for a rampage throughout the city against anyone and everyone suspected of Venizelist sympathies.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 213:

(now historical) Pertaining to or supportive of Venizelos or his policies.


Venizelist

(now historical) A supporter or adherent of Eleftherios Venizelos or his political policies.


Erymanthos

From Ancient Greek Ἐρύμανθος (Erúmanthos).

A river in the southwestern Peloponnese in southwestern Greece, it flows into the Achaia and the Ilia prefectures


Aetolia

A mountainous region of Greece on the north coast of the Gulf of Corinth, forming the eastern part of the modern prefecture of Aetolia-Acarnania.


Thessalonican

Someone of or from Thessalonica (Thessaloniki)


Hellenic Republic

Calque of Greek Ελληνική Δημοκρατία (Ellinikí Dimokratía)

calque

Ελληνική Δημοκρατία


mangas

Impoverished, disenfranchised, the mangas lived by petty crime and occasional labor.

2016, Jane K Cowan, Dance and the Body Politic in Northern Greece, page 174:

The mangas was expected to cock a snook at authority, to be quick with a knife and ruthless in avenging insult.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 172:

(now historical) A type of cocky, working-class man in early twentieth-century Greece, associated with violent behaviour, alcohol and hashish, and celebrated in various folk songs.


ELAS

Roumeli belonged to ELAS, and the commander who first took him into his particular band was proudly and overtly Communist.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 190:

Looting and street fighting between armed gangs loyal to the Rallis government and to ELAS became daily occurrences in the city.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Country, Penguin, published 2020, page 285:

(politics) ΕΛΑΣ (Ελληνικός Λαϊκός Απελευθερωτικός Στρατός), the Greek People's Liberation Army, the military arm of the left-wing National Liberation Front (ΕΑΜ) during the period of the Greek Resistance until February 1945.


Enosis

Borrowed from Greek Ένωσις (Énosis, “union”).

Any political movement aiming to incorporate Greek-populated areas currently outside Greece into Greece.

Despite the pragmatic reluctance of government ministers, in Greece the cause of Enosis quickly took fire in street demonstrations and in the columns of the press.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Country, Penguin, published 2020, page 312:

(especially) A political movement aiming to incorporate the island of Cyprus into Greece.

Enosis

movement aiming to incorporate Cyprus into Greece


Corfiot

From Corfu + -iot (after Greek Κυπριώτης (Kypriótis, “Cypriot”)).

His name was Spiridon, he was a charismatic Corfiote, and his exuberance was inexhaustible.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 406:


fustanella

Borrowed from Greek φουστανέλα (foustanéla).

bor+

The doctor had always wanted a set of fustanella and had never been able to afford it.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 276:

A form of skirt or kilt traditionally worn by men in Albania, Greece and other parts of the Balkans.


Zantiot

An inhabitant of the Greek island of Zakynthos.


Peloponnesian

en-adj

Peloponnesian (comparative more Peloponnesian, superlative most Peloponnesian)

more Peloponnesian (comparative)
most Peloponnesian (superlative)

From Latin Peloponnesius, from Peloponnesus, from Ancient Greek Πελοπόννησος (Pelopónnēsos, literally “the island of Pelops”).

uder

Πελοπόννησος

Of or pertaining to the Peloponnesus, or southern peninsula of Greece.


Parian

en-noun

Parian (countable and uncountable, plural Parians)

(countable) A native or inhabitant of Paros.


Megaric

Derived from Latin megaricus, from Ancient Greek Μεγαρικός (Megarikós). Also Megara + -ic.


Rhodopes

A mountain range in Southeastern Europe, with over 83% of its area in southern Bulgaria and the remainder in Greece.


Gortyn

(historical) Ancient city in central Crete, Greece.

A municipality in central Crete, Greece.


kafenio

From Greek καφενεῖον (kapheneîon), Greek καφενείο (kafeneío).

Kokolios […] was unashamed of his Communist convictions and devoted much time in the kapheneion to criticising the dictator and the King.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 20:

The traditional men-only kapheneion, where elderly denizens played backgammon, drank coffee and disputed the contents of the daily newspapers, began to be displaced by smart bars where young people of both sexes would congregate.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 350:


Acarnania

A region in west-central Greece that lies along the Ionian Sea, west of Aetolia.


Grexit

We raise our estimate of the likelihood of Greek EA exit (‘Grexit’) to 50% over the next 18 months, from 25-30% previously. This is mostly because we consider the willingness of EA creditors to continue providing further support to Greece despite Greek non-compliance with programme conditionality to have fallen substantially.

2012 February 6, Willem Buiter, Ebrahim Rahbari, “Rising Risks of Greek Euro Area Exit”, in Willem H. Buiter, archived from the original on 2016-08-16:

Citigroup economists Willem Buiter and Ebrahim Rabhari revised their predictions of a Greek exit from the eurozone—or "Grexit"—in the next 18 months up to 50 percent from 25-30 percent in November.

2012 February 7, Simone Foxman, “CITI'S BUITER: There's A 50% Chance Of A Greek Exit From The Eurozone And Here's How It Would Happen”, in Business Insider:

The bankers, however, were alarmingly precise: amid all the speculation about Grexit, they told me, banks are increasingly reordering their European exposure along national lines, in terms of asset-liability matching (ALM), just in case the region splits apart.

2012 May 25, Gillian Tett, “Beware Hidden Costs as Banks Eye ‘Grexit’”, in Financial Times:

Throughout 2012, economists speculated on the likelihood of the Grexit by 2013.

2013, Words You Should Know: 2013, F+W Media, page 100:

Around the middle of 2012, speculation was rife about the likelihood of the so-called Grexit.

2014, Alison McDonnell, “Solidarity, Flexibility, and the Euro-Crisis: Where do Principles Fit In?”, in The EU After Lisbon, page 72:

Grexit, in short, would have left the way open to German monetary independence.

2014, Jonathan Story, “The Euro Crisis and German Primacy”, in The Eurozone Crisis and the Future of Europe, page 117:

Regarding the relationship with the EU after the Grexit he remains agnostic.

2015, Stavros Mavroudeas, Greek Capitalism in Crisis: Marxist analyses, page 91:

(politics) The potential withdrawal of Greece from the Eurozone.


Patmiot

“One of the reasons I bought the house was that it had more cisterns than any other building in town. I dug another two for good measure.” As every Patmiot knows, the island's main problem is its shortage of water. On Patmos, cisterns represent real wealth.

Architectural Digest v.57, p.274, Condé Nast (2000)

An inhabitant of the Greek island of Patmos.


Naxiot

Of or relating to Naxos or its inhabitants.


Skyriot

Skyriot wares are hardly exported at all, except to Athens for the benefit of the folk-art enthusiasts. I have never met them outside the island except at the little town of Kyme on the east coast of Euboea opposite Skyros. Here it is natural to expect them, for Kyme is the nearest mainland town to the island.

1938 December, Stanley Casson, “The Modern Pottery Trade in the Aegean”, in O[sbert] G[uy] S[tanhope] Crawford, Roland Austin, editors, Antiquity: A Quarterly Review of Archaeology, volume XII, number 48, Gloucester, Gloucestershire: Printed by John Bellows Ltd., →OCLC, page 472:

The [Rupert] Brooke legend has grown its own Skyriot trappings. We were told in Linaria how it had all happened, how before the war the poet was visiting Greece and came to Skyros; how he found the olive grove in this little valley and spent the whole night there in the company of his closest friends, drinking much wine, talking and making merry. He loved the place so much, he said, he wanted to be buried here.

1965, Michael Carroll, “Skyros: A Poet’s Grave”, in Gates of the Wind: On the Northern Sporades, London: John Murray, →OCLC; republished in An Island in Greece: On the Shores of Skopelos, London: Tauris Parke Paperbacks, I.B. Tauris & Co., 2009, →ISBN, pages 68–69:

I never saw the little Skyriot horses which lived in the mountains all the winter and came down to do farm work and be raced on the sands in the summer. They weren't ponies, I was told, but real horses – the strain being of great antiquity.

2002, Elizabeth Jane Howard, “Part Three”, in Slipstream: A Memoir, London: Macmillan, →ISBN; republished London: Pan Macmillan, 2003, →ISBN, page 362:

Of or relating to Skyros or its inhabitants.


Icarian

en-adj

Icarian (comparative more Icarian, superlative most Icarian)

more Icarian (comparative)
most Icarian (superlative)


Kalamatianos

der

καλαματιανός

Her relative stood dumbfounded, cried out incredulously, wheeled about with his clenched fists raised in the air, performed three steps of a kalamatianos for sheer joy, and then rocked her in his arms exclaiming ‘Efkharisto, efkharisto,’ over and over again.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 82:

A Greek folk dance from the Peloponnese.


metapolitefsi

Borrowed from Greek μεταπολίτευση (metapolítefsi, “regime change”).

bor

μεταπολίτευση

In the event, metapolitefsi came to stand for far more wide-ranging transformations than those to the political system, drastic though these were.

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

(now historical) A transitional period in modern Greek history after the fall of the military junta of 1967–74, leading to elections and democracy.


armatole

/ˈɑɹməˌtoʊl/

Borrowed from Greek αρματολός (armatolós), alternative form of αρματόλογος (armatólogos, “a person concerned or involved with arms or weapons”), from άρματα (ármata) (plural of άρμα (árma, “weapon”), from Byzantine Greek ἄρμα (árma), from Latin arma (“armour, defensive arms, shields, weapons of war”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂(e)rmos (“fitting”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂er- (“to join”)) + λόγος (lógos, “subject matter”) (from Ancient Greek λόγος (lógos), from λέγω (légō, “I say”), from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ-).
The plural form armatoloi and possibly armatoli are from the Greek plural form αρματολοί (armatoloí).

der

[page 159] These [the Klephtai] are either Greeks whose ancestors taking refuge in the mountains when the Turks first conquered the country, have transmitted to them hereditary persecution and liberty; or Armatoloi (a sort of Grecian militia, originally established in Thessaly, armed for their own protection, and recognized, though always suspected, by the Turkish authorities) who have been driven by oppression to join their brethren on the mountains, and become, like them, guerrillas. Every thing relating to the Klephtai and Armatoloi ought to be now doubly interesting, since their institutions preserved, through the long darkness of Grecian suffering, the vestal flame of liberty, and their hardy bands have principally contributed to swell the Greek armies. […] [page 160] Call me a priest—to whom I may confess / All my past errors—would the list were less— / A Klephtes long! an Armatolos longer, / Terror of Turks—but now the foe is stronger— / 'Tis Death! […]

1824 July, “Art. VII. Histoire de la Régénération de la Grèce, par F[rançois] C[harles] H[ugues] L[aurent] Pouqueville. 4 tomes. Paris, 1824. [et al.]”, in The Westminster Review, volume II, number III, London: Printed for the proprietors, and published by Robert Heward, at the office of the Westminster Review, 2, Wellington Street, Strand, →OCLC, pages 159–160:

The rank of captain was hereditary; and the profession of an Armatòle probably descendible. The members composing each band were called Pallikàrs: a term for which we have no English equivalent, but which nearly answers to the French expression "des braves." Of these, the first, or Protopalikar, acted as lieutenant and secretary to the captain, and bore, as a badge of office, a silver writing-case affixed to his sash; besides the silver plates bound over the knees, and the ornamental buttons which studded the breast of every Armatòle: […]

1825, “Preface”, in Charles Brinsley Sheridan, transl., The Songs of Greece, from the Romaic Text, Edited by M. C[laude] Fauriel, with Additions. Translated into English Verse, London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, Brown, and Green, Paternoster-Row, →OCLC, page xxii:

From a very early period of the Turkish dominion over Greece, a system was adopted of having a local police, composed of native Greeks, for the preservation of the peace of each district, and for repressing the incursions of the independent tribes of the mountains. The appellation of this police was Armatoles (Ὰρματολοὶ); […] The armatoles were bound to obey the directions of the pasha or his deputy, and the Greek primates. The arms of the armatoles were the same as those of the Albanians, namely, a long gun, a sword, and a dagger.

1830, Thomas Keightley, chapter 1, in History of the War of Independence in Greece. … In Two Volumes (Constable's Miscellany of Original and Selected Publications in the Various Departments of Literature, Science, & the Arts; LX), volume I, Edinburgh: Printed for Constable and Co. and Hurst, Chance, and Co. London, →OCLC, page 7:

The armatoli were a Christian local militia, which had existed in the Byzantine empire, and which had in some degree protected the Greek population against the Franks, the Servians, and the Albanians, during the anarchy that reigned in Greece and Macedonia, while the worthless race of the Paleologoi ruled at Constantinople. The Greeks in the mountain districts, fearing anarchy more than despotism, generally submitted to the sultans on the condition of being allowed to retain their local privileges. The institution of the armatoli was thus adopted into the scheme of the sultan's administration.

1861, George Finlay, “The Condition of the Modern Greeks”, in History of the Greek Revolution … In Two Volumes, volume I, Edinburgh, London: William Blackwood and Sons, →OCLC, page 24:

(historical) A Greek armed mercenary who enforced Ottoman rule in Greece from the 15th century onward; during the Greek War of Independence (1821–1832), many armatoloi became pro-independence guerrilla fighters opposed to Ottoman rule.

armatol

Greek mercenary who enforced Ottoman rule


Mantineia

(historical) A city in ancient Arcadia, Greece that was the site of two significant battles in Classical Greek history.


andarte

Myers now learned of the proximity of another andarte leader, known as Aris Veloukhiotis, but Aris did not even answer the messages Myers sent him […].

1975, Henry Maule, Scobie, Hero of Greece, page 18:

‘Many of the andartes on the mainland are women,’ said Corelli, ‘and many of the partisans in Yugoslavia.’

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 351:

Thus andarte-controlled territory or ‘free Greece’ became divided from German- or Italian-controlled territory, which steadily dwindled from the second half of 1942, and by mid-1943 was reduced to the plains.

1995, David H Close, The Origins of the Greek Civil War, Routledge, published 2013, page 74:

A Greek guerrilla fighter, especially as part of the Resistance during the Second World War.


Coan

en-proper noun

Coan (countable and uncountable, plural Coans)

Northumberland County
Northumberland County#English

An unincorporated community in Northumberland County, Virginia, United States.


Venetocracy

Borrowed from Greek Βενετοκρατία (Venetokratía).

bor

Βενετοκρατία

(historiography) The period during which the Republic of Venice held domains in parts of Greece.


Greekland

From Middle English Greclond, Griclond, Griccland, from Old English Grēcland (“Greece”), equivalent to Greek + -land. Compare West Frisian Grikelân (“Greece”), Dutch Griekenland (“Greece”), German Griechenland (“Greece”), Danish Grækenland (“Greece”), Norwegian Bokmål Grekenland (“Greece”) (archaic, replaced by “Hellas”), Norwegian Nynorsk Grekland (“Greece”) (archaic, replaced by “Hellas”), Swedish Grekland (“Greece”), Icelandic Grikkland (“Greece”).

q

archaic, replaced by “<i class="Latn mention" lang="nb">Hellas</i>”

archaic, replaced by “<i class="Latn mention" lang="nn">Hellas</i>”

Once on a time fared he in a ship to Greekland, for that there was a king's daughter on whom he had set his mind, […]

Scores of the old rune-stones speak of the Warings and Captains and Shipmen (and perhaps, now and then, Merchants or Pilgrims going to or from the Holy Land) who served "in Greece", "in Greekland", who "gained wealth in Greece", who "died in Greekland", who were mere "Greek farers", visited "Greek Havens" &c. in the 10th, 11th, 12th centuries.

1884, George Stephens, The Old-northern Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England:

They speak about men who perished on Viking expeditions to faraway countries — westward to England, most especially eastward to Gardarike (the present Russia), to Greekland (the lands comprising the Byzantine Empire), to Sarkland (the Mohammedan countries about the Black Sea), to Jorsalaland (Jerusalem), to Langbardaland (the present Italy).

1933, Henry Goddard Leach, The American-Scandinavian Review, volume 21, page 216:

Nowhere do we find that 'Epirus' means Greekland. If 'Epirus' could thus most conveniently be stretched to mean Greekland, then the world would forever be faced with a chaotic situation.

She was a prize. She was Jaederborn, but her mother had been captured in Greekland.

2000, Lars Walker, The Year of the Warrior:

Atheling to the heaven-king.
Shepherd of Greekland
Harrower of Annwn.

2002, John Matthews, At the Table of the Grail:

The huge river Danube runs between Saxland and Greekland.

2005, Atanas Orachev, Bulgaria in the European Cartographic Concepts Until XIX Century:

Not all of the treasures of Birka and Gotland are below the ground. Rune stones dot the landscape, carved with memorials of journeys to far places –Semgall and Courland (Latvia), Wendland (Poland), Virland (Estonia), Gardariki (Russia), Greekland (more particularly, the Byzantine Empire centred on Constantinople), and Serkland, the land of the Saracens.

2013, Jonathan Clements, A Brief History of the Vikings:

(rare, now nonstandard) The land of the Greeks; Greece


EAM

external auditory meatus
external auditory meatus#English

(anatomy) Initialism of external auditory meatus.


EAM

The EAM said that the post Cold War era has opened up new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries. The EAM conveyed India's hope to work closely with Iran in the international forums.

1995, BBC, Summary of World Broadcasts - Asia Pacific, page 3:

In the words of Indian EAM Swaraj, the dialogue is “the starting point for a new era in relations between India and Central Asia."

2020, Anil Sigdel, India in the Era of China’s Belt and Road Initiative: How Modi Responds to Xi, →ISBN, page 44:

External Affairs Minister
w:Minister of External Affairs (India)

(India) Acronym of External Affairs Minister.

It was only a matter of time before EAM walked out of the provisional government in frustration over demands that the partisans demobilise.

2014 November 30, Ed Vulliamy, Helena Smith, The Guardian:

Against this background, EAM succeeded in establishing a Provisional Government in the mountains of ‘Free Greece’ in March 1944.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Country, Penguin, published 2020, page 285:

National Liberation Front
National Liberation Front

(now historical) Initialism of Ethnikó Apeleftherotikó Métopo, the Greek National Liberation Front.


Pherecydes

From Ancient Greek φέρω (phérō, “to carry, to bring”) + κῦδος (kûdos, “renown, glory”).

der

an Ancient Greek thinker from the island of Syros, who authored a cosmogony that bridged the mythological thought of Hesiod and pre-Socratic philosophy (c. 620-550 BC)


Roumeli

In Roumeli, in particular, the Ottoman authorities recruited local militias, often made up of Orthodox Christians, to keep the bandits in check.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: The Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 33:

(now chiefly historical) The area of the Greek mainland north of the Peloponnese; Central Greece, especially seen as a district of the Ottoman Empire.


kleft

Ultimately from Greek κλέφτης (kléftis, “thief”).

True, the klefts often mulcted the villages, but at least they were Greeks, and they reduced considerably the marauding activities of the Albanians who in the second half of the eighteenth century were expanding westwards.

1972, Douglas Dakin, The Unification of Greece, 1770-1923, page 18:

The fear Greek peasants had of the klefts is commented upon by the evidence of an English traveller, Leake, who was impressed by a monument he saw raised in honour of a local leader who had been killed in a fight against the klefts.

1988, Niki Watts, The Greek Folk Songs, page 60:

This kind of thing had not happened since his great-grandfather's time, in the days when those andartes were called klefts.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 271:

We find much the same set of attitudes in the very many songs that have been preserved from the oral tradition that are dedicate to the lives, and usually also the violent deaths, of the mountain brigands known as klefts.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: The Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 38:

(now historical) A type of brigand operating in the mountains of pre-Revolutionary Greece.


Turcocretan

From Turco- + Cretan, after Greek Τουρκοκρήτες (Tourkokrítes).

Τουρκοκρήτες

The Turcocretans, as Muslims, looked to the Ottoman Empire for protection and were loyal to its institutions.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 155:

A Muslim inhabitant of Crete (until 1923), or one of their descendants.


Hellenocentric

en-adj

Hellenocentric (comparative more Hellenocentric, superlative most Hellenocentric)

more Hellenocentric (comparative)
most Hellenocentric (superlative)

Emphasizing the Greeks, their culture or what is in their language.


polykatoikia

der

πολυκατοικία

Although architects and historians have voiced a profound sense of failure with regard to the polykatoikia, I want to argue for its positive aspects.

2005, Ioanna Theocharopoulou, in Heynen & Baydar, Negotiating Domesticity, Routledge 2005, p. 68

This was the era of the polykatoikia, the apartment block built of unadorned concrete and typically five or six storeys high.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Country, Penguin, published 2020, page 307:

(architecture) A type of concrete urban housing block in postwar Greece.


EOKA

In the eyes of the British, EOKA was a terrorist organization. To its supporters its members were freedom fighters engaged in a struggle for national liberation.

2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Country, Penguin, published 2020, page 315:

(now historical) The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston ("National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters"), a paramilitary group fighting for the end of British rule in Cyprus and for union with Greece.


Robola

He began to notice that a large amount of Robola was accumulating, and he expostulated to himself, ‘What? Do they all think I'm a drunk?’

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 38:

A variety of grape, chiefly grown on the island of Cephalonia, or the white wine which is made from it.


syrtos

From Greek συρτός (syrtós), Koine Greek συρτός (surtós), noun use of Ancient Greek συρτός (surtós, “dragging along”), from σύρειν (súrein, “to drag along, sweep away”).

He was drawn into a dance, a syrtos of the young people of Lixouri.

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 78:

A folk dance of classical and modern Greece.


kefi

‘You have too many high spirits, altogether too much kefi, to be a good husband.’

1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 55:

Music was a context in which men and women, regardless of their political orientation, could express emotions, especially of grief and kefi, in modern Greece.

2015, Nikolaos Papadogiannis, Militant Around the Clock?, Berghahn, published 2019, page 111:

Kefi is achieved methodically and systematically through drink, increasingly intimate subject matter in the songs sung, escalating expressions of feelings, and private relationships among the guests.

2019, Tina Bucuvelas, editor, Greek Music in America:

High spirits, ebullience, chiefly in Greece or among Greek people.


Grecophilia

On November 21 Cecil L. Striker of Vassar College lectured on “Ottonian Architecture and Byzantium: the Nature of 11th Century Grecophilia.”

1949–1967, Bulletin of the Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin, Ohio, page 53:

Heinrich Heine’s Reception of German Grecophilia / The Function and Application of the Hellenic Tradition in the First Half of the Nineteenth Century

Thus, the architects of the Greek Revival were not advocates of purity, whatever their protestations of Grecophilia.

1957, Robert Winter, The Organic Principles in American Architectural Theory, page 49:

Marx, in his own way, remained true to the traditional German Grecophilia in the spirit of Winckelmann, Goethe, and Hegel.

1967, Peter Demetz, Marx, Engels, and the Poets: Origins of Marxist Literary Criticism, page 121:

The love of the country, culture or people of Greece.


Prespa

A region of North Macedonia, Albania and Greece


Gayreek

Blend of gay + Greek. Used to suggest that Greeks are homosexual, by referring to the presence of homosexuality in Ancient Greece.

Coordinate term: Turkroach

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Gayreek.

(Internet slang, derogatory, offensive) An individual from Greece or of Greek descent.


diadochus

Borrowed from Ancient Greek διάδοχος (diádokhos).

bor+

(historical) Heir to the Crown of Greece.


Gulf of Corinth

an inlet of the Ionian Sea, between the Peloponnese and western mainland Greece.


Dodekatheism

Borrowed from Greek δωδεκαθεϊσμός (dodekatheïsmós).

δωδεκαθεϊσμός

Hellenismos aka Dodekatheism, Hellenism, Hellenic Polytheism or Hellenic Reconstructionism is the modern adaptation of the Ancient Hellenic (Greek) religion.

2016, Rachel Patterson, The Art of Ritual, Collective Ink, →ISBN, page 183:

Others, focusing on the twelve deities from Mount Olympus, refer to their tradition as either Dodekatheism or Olympianism.

2018, Tony Mierzwicki, Hellenismos: Practicing Greek Polytheism Today, Llewellyn Worldwide, →ISBN, page 11:

Others consider themselves as followers of Dodekatheism or Olympianism.

2021, Samantha Leaver, Pagan Portals - Hellenic Paganism, Collective Ink, →ISBN, page 15:

(uncommon) Synonym of Hellenism (the modern-day revival of the polytheistic religious system of Ancient Greece)