GREEK


Meaning of GREEK in English

n.

Pronunciation: ' gr ē k

Function: noun

Etymology: Middle English Greke, from Old English Gr ē ca, from Latin Graecus, from Greek Graikos

Date: before 12th century

1 a : a native or inhabitant of ancient or modern Greece b : a person of Greek descent

2 a : the language used by the Greeks from prehistoric times to the present constituting a branch of Indo-European ― see INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES table b : ancient Greek as used from the time of the earliest records to the end of the second century A.D. ― see INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES table c often not capitalized [translation of Latin Graecum (in the medieval phrase Graecum est; non potest legi Italian is Greek; it cannot be read)] : something unintelligible <it's Greek to me>

3 : a member of a Greek-letter fraternity or sorority

Merriam Webster Collegiate English Dictionary.      Merriam Webster - Энциклопедический словарь английского языка.