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Greek Definition

Greek

See also greek

Contents

English

Etymology

From Latin Graecus, from Ancient Greek Γραικός (Graikos, “a character in Greek mythology”) (a son of Thessalos, the king of Phthia), whom Ἑλλάς (Hellas, “Greece”), and Ἕλληνες (Hellenes), were also named after; see also Ἕλλην and Hellen.

Pronunciation

Noun

Greek (countable and uncountable; plural Greeks)

  1. (countable) An inhabitant, resident, or a person of descent from Greece.
  2. (US, countable) A member of a college fraternity or sorority, which are commonly characterised by being named after Greek letters. (See also Greek system)
    "Was Joe a Greek in college?"
  3. (uncountable) Unintelligible speech or text, such as foreign speech or text, or regarding subjects the listener is not familiar with, such as mathematics or technical jargon; or statements that the listener does not understand or agree with.
    • 1821, Mary Jane Mackenzie, Geraldine, or Modes of faith and practice[1], page 8:
      "I don't hear one word in ten that they say," continued Mrs. Abingdon; "it's Greek to me. However, ..."
    • 1859, Kinahan Cornwallis, Two journeys to Japan, 1856-7, Volume 2[2], page 246:
      "It's all Greek to me," said my companion at the outset, but as the warrior continued, his fears arose within him; it might be sentence of death — what did he know what it might not be?
    • 1951 December, “Which Kind of Life Insurance Policy?”, Changing Times - The Kiplinger Magazine, volume 5, number 12, page 28: 
      ...preferred risk...family maintenance...20-pay life. That's a bare sampling of the merchandise you're asked to pick and choose from. If it sounds like Greek to you, don't worry. It sounds like Greek to most people.

Proper noun

Greek

  1. The language of the Greek people, spoken in Greece and in Greek communities.
  2. The writing system used in Greek language.

Translations

language of the Greek people
  • Kurdish: Yonanî, Yewnanî
  • Latin: Graece, Graeca
  • Latvian: Grieķu
  • Limburgish: Greeksj (li) n.
  • Lithuanian: Graikų, Graikiškai
  • Low German: Greeksch (nds)
  • Luxembourgish: Griichesch (lb) n.
  • Macedonian: грчки (mk) (g'rčki) m.
  • Malay: bahasa Yunani, Yunani
  • Maltese: Grieg (mt)
  • Moksha: Грекань (grekan’)
  • Mongolian: Грек (grek)
  • Navajo: Gwíík bizaad
  • Norwegian: gresk (no), hellenesk (no)
  • Occitan: Grec
  • Persian: یونانی (fa) (Yunani)
  • Polish: (język) grecki m., greka f. (the ancient greek language)
  • Portuguese: grego (pt) m.
  • Romanian: greacă (ro) f.
  • Russian: греческий (ru) (gréčeskij) m.
  • Serbian:
    Cyrillic: грчки m.
    Roman: grčki m.
  • Sicilian: grecu
  • Sinhalese: ග්‍රීක (si) (grīka), ග්‍රීක භාෂාව (si) (grīka bhāṣāva)
  • Slovak: gréčtina (sk)
  • Slovene: grščina (sl)
  • Sorbian: Grjekšćina
  • Spanish: griego (es) m.
  • Swahili: Kigiriki (sw)
  • Swedish: grekiska (sv) c.
  • Tagalog: Griyego
  • Tamil: கிரேக்கம் (kireekkam)
  • Tatar: Грек (grek)
  • Thai: ภาษากรีก (th) (paasăa grèek)
  • Turkish: Yunanca (tr)
  • Ukrainian: грецька (uk) (hréc'ka) f.
  • Urdu: یونانی (ur) (yūnānī)
  • Vietnamese: tiếng Hy-lạp (vi)
  • Walloon: Grek
  • Welsh: Groeg
  • West Frisian: Gryksk
  • Yiddish: גריכיש (grikhish)
  • Zulu: Isigrikhi

Adjective

Greek (comparative Greeker, superlative Greekest)

  1. Of or relating to Greece, the Greek people, or the Greek language.
  2. Of or pertaining to a fraternity or sorority.
  3. unintelligible, especially regarding foreign speech or text, or regarding subjects the speaker is not familiar with, such as mathematics or technical jargon.

Synonyms

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

Translations

of the Greek language, people or country
pertaining to a fraternity etc
  • Swahili: mgriki (sw)
unintelligible, especially regarding foreign speech
  • Finnish: siansaksa (fi), heprea (fi)
  • Greek: ακαταλαβίστικος (el) (akatalavístikos) m.
  • Swahili: mgriki (sw)

Derived terms

terms derived from Greek

Related terms

terms related to Greek

See also

Greek edition of Wiktionary Other headwords of interest

Statistics

External links

 

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