Greek

American  

[greek] / grik /

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.

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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 British  

/ 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

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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

Sensitive Note

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

Other Word Forms

• Greekdom noun
• Greekish adjective
• Greekness noun
• anti-Greek adjective
• half-Greek adjective
• non-Greek adjective
• pre-Greek adjective
• pro-Greek adjective
• pseudo-Greek adjective
• quasi-Greek adjective

Etymology

Origin of Greek

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

Example Sentences

This ancient Greek and Roman school of thought, which argues that a shift in perspective can turn regret and fear into a state of calm acceptance, is what Semple calls “salvation through reason.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Running out of options, a large number of livestock farmers have proceeded to vaccinate their flocks -- even though Greek authorities have not approved the procedure.

From Barron's

AFP fed the tools multiple human-written samples -- in Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, and English.

From Barron's

There’s tzatziki, a salted yogurt and cucumber dip that’s rooted in Greek cuisine.

From Salon

Greek authorities said two men from South Sudan, aged 19 and 22, had been arrested on suspicion of people trafficking.

From BBC