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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

Greek.

Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ɡɹiːk/
  1. Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.

  2. Synonym of incomprehensible, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.

    colloquial · figuratively
  3. Of or relating to collegiate fraternities, sororities, or (uncommon) honor societies.

    US · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language. In reference to terms used to analysize financial derivatives, from their usual names consisting of Greek letters.

name/ɡɹiːk/
  1. The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek.

    countable · uncountable
  2. The written form of these languages.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A surname.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language. In reference to terms used to analysize financial derivatives, from their usual names consisting of Greek letters.

noun/ɡɹiːk/
  1. A person from Greece or of Greek descent.

    countable
    The Greeks believed the sun went round the earth.
  2. Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food.

    uncountable
  3. Synonym of gibberish, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.

    colloquial · figuratively · uncountable
  4. Synonym of lorem ipsum, dummy placeholder text used in greeking.

    colloquial · figuratively · metonymically · uncountable
  5. A member of a collegiate fraternity or sorority.

    US · colloquial · countable · metonymically
    Was Joe a Greek in college?
  6. A cunning rogue.

    archaic · countable · slang
  7. A merry fellow.

    archaic · countable · slang
  8. Anal sex.

    slang · uncountable
  9. One of the Greeks, measures of derivative price sensitivity.

    countable · in-plural · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language. In reference to terms used to analysize financial derivatives, from their usual names consisting of Greek letters.

verb/ɡɹiːk/
  1. To cheat at cards.

    obsolete
  2. Alternative letter-case form of greek.

    alt-of · uncommon
Where this word comes from

Inherited from Old English Grēcas (“Greeks”), variant of Crēcas, from Proto-West Germanic *Krēkō, from Latin Graecus of uncertain origin, perhaps derived from the toponym Γραῖα (Graîa) or from other Paleo-Balkanic forms from a tribal name Graii. Greek in any case has the cognate Γραικός (Graikós), the mythological ancestor of the Γραίοι (Graíoi, “Graecians”). Germanic cognates include Dutch Griek, German Grieche. The ⟨g⟩ in English and Germanic cognates was restored under influence from French grec and classical Latin Graecus. The adjective dates to 14th-century Middle English, replacing Old English Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier Middle English Gregeis. In reference to fraternities and sororities, a clipping of earlier Greek-letter in reference to their usual names being initialisms of mottos in the Greek language. In reference to terms used to analysize financial derivatives, from their usual names consisting of Greek letters.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.