Greek

[greek] /grik/

adjective

of or pertaining to Greece, the Greeks, or their language.

pertaining to the Greek Orthodox Church.

noting or pertaining to the alphabetical script derived from a Semitic form of writing and employing some letters that originally represented consonants for vowel sounds, which was used from about the beginning of the first millennium b.c. for the writing of Greek, and from which the Latin, Cyrillic, and other alphabets were derived.

noun

a native or inhabitant of Greece.

the language of the ancient Greeks and any of the languages that have developed from it, as Hellenistic Greek, Biblical Greek, the Koine, and Modern Greek.

Abbreviation: Gk, Gk.

Informal. anything unintelligible, as speech, writing, etc.:

This contract is Greek to me.

a member of the Greek Church.

Hellenic (def 3).

a person who belongs to a Greek-letter fraternity or sorority.

10.

Archaic: Usually Offensive. a cheater, especially one who cheats at cards.

Origin

before 900; Middle English; Old English Grēcas (plural) < Latin Graecī the Greeks (nominative plural of Graecus) < Greek Graikoí, plural of Graikós Greek

Related forms

Greekdom, noun

Greekish, adjective

anti-Greek, adjective, noun

half-Greek, adjective

non-Greek, adjective, noun

pre-Greek, adjective, noun

pro-Greek, adjective, noun

pseudo-Greek, adjective, noun

quasi-Greek, adjective

Usage note

The noun Greek in its archaic meaning of “cheater” is usually perceived as insulting to or by Greeks.

Examples from the web for Greek

The language behind the script was found to be an early form of Greek.
Like the rest of the new testament, the gospel was written in Greek.
The etymology of the name is not known it is probably not Greek.
He obtained his roman citizenship by purchase, and was therefore probably a Greek.

British Dictionary definitions for Greek

Greek

/ɡriːk/

noun

the official language of Greece, constituting the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages See Ancient Greek, Late Greek, Medieval Greek, Modern Greek

a native or inhabitant of Greece or a descendant of such a native

a member of the Greek Orthodox Church

(informal) anything incomprehensible (esp in the phrase it's (all) Greek to me)

Greek meets Greek, equals meet

adjective

denoting, relating to, or characteristic of Greece, the Greeks, or the Greek language; Hellenic

of, relating to, or designating the Greek Orthodox Church

Derived Forms

Greekness, noun

Word Origin

from Old English Grēcas (plural), or Latin Graecus, from Greek Graikos

Word Origin and History for Greek

Old English Grecas, Crecas (plural), early Germanic borrowing from Latin Graeci "the Hellenes," from Greek Grakoi. Aristotle, who was the first to use Graikhos as equivalent to Hellenes ("Meteorologica" I.xiv), wrote that it was the name originally used by Illyrians for the Dorians in Epirus, from Graii, native name of the people of Epirus.

But a modern theory (put forth by German classical historian Georg Busolt, 1850-1920), derives it from Graikhos "inhabitant of Graia" (literally "gray"), a town on the coast of Boeotia, which was the name given by the Romans to all Greeks, originally to the Greek colonists from Graia who helped found Cumae (9c. B.C.E.), the important city in southern Italy where the Latins first encountered Greeks. Under this theory, it was reborrowed in this general sense by the Greeks.

The Germanic languages originally borrowed the word with an initial -k- sound (cf. Old High German Chrech, Gothic Kreks), which probably was their initial sound closest to the Latin -g- at the time; the word was later refashioned.

It was subtle of God to learn Greek when he wished to become an author -- and not to learn it better. [Nietzsche, "Beyond Good and Evil," 1886]

Meaning "the Greek language" is from late 14c.; meaning "unintelligible speech, gibberish" is from c.1600. Meaning "Greek letter fraternity member" is student slang, 1900.

adj.

late 14c., from Greek (n.). Earlier Gregeis (c.1300), from Old French Gregois; also Greekish (Old English Grecisc). In venery, "anal," by 1970. Greek gift is from "Æneid," II.49: "timeo Danaos et dona ferentes."

Slang definitions & phrases for Greek

Greek

noun

A Greek-letter fraternity member (1900+ College students)
A professional gambler, esp a cardsharp (1528+ Gambling)

Related Terms

all greek to

Greek in Technology

1. To display text as abstract dots and lines in order to give a preview of layout without actually being legible. This is faster than drawing the characters correctly which may require scaling or other transformations. Greeking is particularly useful when displaying a reduced image of a document where the text would be too small to be legible on the display anyway.
A related technique is lorem ipsum.
(2006-09-18)

Greek in the Bible

Found only in the New Testament, where a distinction is observed between "Greek" and "Grecian" (q.v.). The former is (1) a Greek by race (Acts 16:1-3; 18:17; Rom. 1:14), or (2) a Gentile as opposed to a Jew (Rom. 2:9, 10). The latter, meaning properly "one who speaks Greek," is a foreign Jew opposed to a home Jew who dwelt in Palestine. The word "Grecians" in Acts 11:20 should be "Greeks," denoting the heathen Greeks of that city, as rendered in the Revised Version according to the reading of the best manuscripts ("Hellenes").