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• koine
  koine

  noun

  an amalgam of Greek dialects, chiefly Attic and Ionic, that replaced the Classical Greek dialects in the Hellenistic period and flourished under the Roman Empire.
• Koine
  Koine

  noun

  (sometimes not capital) the Ancient Greek dialect that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely used throughout the E Mediterranean area in Roman times

koine

American  

[koi-ney, koi-ney] / kɔɪˈneɪ, ˈkɔɪ neɪ /

noun

1. (usually initial capital letter) an amalgam of Greek dialects, chiefly Attic and Ionic, that replaced the Classical Greek dialects in the Hellenistic period and flourished under the Roman Empire.

2. a lingua franca.

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Koine ¹ British  

/ ˈkɔɪniː /

noun

1. (sometimes not capital) the Ancient Greek dialect that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely used throughout the E Mediterranean area in Roman times

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koine ² British  

/ ˈkɔɪniː /

noun

1. a common language among speakers of different languages; lingua franca

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Etymology

Origin of koine

1910–15; < Greek koinḗ ( diálektos ) common (dialect); see ceno- ²

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

koine Koine

The word koine came from the Greek word for “common.”

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2012

Others were third-rate and knew only the koine kais, which have as much meaning as our colloquial ands.

From Time Magazine Archive

He calls this degree stata forma,—a rational, mediocre sort of beauty, which is not liable to be either koine or poine.

From My Novel — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

He calls this degree /stata forma/,—a rational, mediocre sort of beauty, which is not liable to be either /koine/ or /poine/.

From My Novel — Volume 04 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

Police Scotland launched Operation Koine launched in April last year after several families reported they had been given the wrong ashes.

From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025

Operation Koine was launched in April last year following reports relating to the former A Milne Independent Funeral Directors in the Glasgow and Dumbarton areas.

From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2025

Koine is the common tongue, like lingua franca.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019

This I had a bead on, because I knew that Koine was the word for Biblical Greek.

From The New Yorker ● Jan. 7, 2019

It is not derived from the Koine, but stems directly from the Doric dialect of Sparta.

From Language An Introduction to the Study of Speech by Sapir, Edward