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Greek

[greek]

adjective

  1. of or relating to Greece, the Greeks, or their language.

  2. pertaining to the Greek Orthodox Church.

  3. noting or pertaining to the alphabetic script derived from a Semitic form of writing, employing some letters that originally represented consonants for use as 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

  1. a native or inhabitant of Greece.

  2. 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. Gk, Gk.

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

    This contract is all Greek to me.

  4. a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.

  5. Hellenic.

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

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

Greek

/ ɡriːk /

noun

  1. 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

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

  3. a member of the Greek Orthodox Church

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

  5. equals meet

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

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

  2. of, relating to, or designating the Greek Orthodox Church

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Sensitive Note

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

  • Greekdom noun
  • Greekish adjective
  • anti-Greek adjective
  • half-Greek adjective
  • non-Greek adjective
  • pre-Greek adjective
  • pro-Greek adjective
  • pseudo-Greek adjective
  • quasi-Greek adjective
  • Greekness noun
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Greek1

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English Grēcas (plural) from Latin Graecī “the Greeks” (nominative plural of Graecus ) from Greek Graikoí, plural of Graikós Greek
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Word History and Origins

Origin of Greek1

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

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

German woman returns ancient Greek relic — 50 years later.

Read more on MarketWatch

And in Taxila, a place “where intellectual and artistic freedoms met with a merging of multicultural ideas and expressions,” imported Greek art inspired the now-familiar depiction of the Buddha.

In 1970, she and a friend traveled across Afghanistan, into Northern Africa, and eventually wound up on the Greek island of Mykonos.

Another Greek shipping magnate, Aristotle Onassis, once said that his yacht, the 325-foot Christina O—which hosted luminaries including Winston Churchill and John F. Kennedy—was “the best office in the world.”

Gannon-Doak is Scotland's flying machine, the man-child who was supposed to scare the wits out of the Greeks with his speed and his daring, and electrify Hampden with his personality.

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