What does "greek" mean?
A person from Greece or of Greek descent.
Greek
/ɡɹiːk/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A person from Greece or of Greek descent.
- Grammar: greek is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: hellene, grecian, hellenic, achaean.
- Useful contrasts: non greek, non greek language, non greeks.
- Usage evidence: We studied Greek culture from various aspects.
How to use "greek"
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Meaning check
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Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "greek" in a final draft.
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Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
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Check whether "greek" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A person from Greece or of Greek descent. countable
"The Greeks believed the sun went round the earth."
- 2 Alternative letter-case form of Greek (“nonsense writing or talk; gibberish”). alt-of
- 3 the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages wordnet
- 4 Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food. uncountable
- 5 Alternative letter-case form of Greek (“anal sex”). alt-of
Show 9 more definitions
- 6 the Greek language as spoken and written today wordnet
- 7 Synonym of gibberish, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects. colloquial, figuratively, uncountable
""I don't hear one word in ten that they say," continued Mrs. Abingdon; "it's Greek to me. However, ...""
- 8 a native or inhabitant of Greece wordnet
- 9 Synonym of lorem ipsum, dummy placeholder text used in greeking. colloquial, figuratively, metonymically, uncountable
- 10 A member of a collegiate fraternity or sorority. US, colloquial, countable, metonymically
"Was Joe a Greek in college?"
- 11 A cunning rogue. archaic, countable, slang
"The wind-up is, that the father becomes bankrupt; the wife and daughters town-traders; the sons Greeks, Fancy-swells, Conveyancers (pickpockets), or Cracksmen (house breakers), and the New Drop is the last drop they ever take."
- 12 A merry fellow. archaic, countable, slang
- 13 Anal sex. slang, uncountable
"She is absolutely a total GFE, no limits, except no Greek. (Well...I say “no Greek” - - if she is really hot for you, and if she is really turned on in a long session, she might beg for a finger in her anus while you suck her clit, but she is just too tiny and tight for any “real meat” in the backdoor.)"
- 14 One of the Greeks, measures of derivative price sensitivity. countable, in-plural, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To cheat at cards. obsolete
"A discovery of Greeking at Brighton, has made considerable noise this month in the sporting world."
- 2 To display a placeholder (instead of text), especially to optimize speed in displaying text that would be too small to read. transitive
"You can specify the type size below which text will be greeked in the Preferences dialog box. Designers often prefer to use greeked text in rough layouts because it helps the client focus on the design rather than on the words."
- 3 Alternative letter-case form of greek. alt-of, uncommon
- 4 To fill a template with nonsense text (particularly the Lorem ipsum), so that form can be focused on instead of content. transitive
- 5 To obscure a corporate logo that has not been permitted for use in a production. transitive
Adjective
- 1 Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.
"Ikey the blacksmith had forged us a spearhead after a sketch from a picture of a Greek warrior; and a rake-handle served as a shaft."
- 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
"“Every single person is going to have a different experience watching this film,” she said when I asked about possibly labeling the Greek system as “toxic”."
Adjective
- 1 of or relating to or characteristic of Greece or the Greeks or the Greek language wordnet
Proper Noun
- 1 The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek. countable, uncountable
"For it is vain and foolish to talk of knowing Greek, since in our ignorance we should be at the bottom of any class of schoolboys, since we do not know how the words sounded, or where precisely we ought to laugh, or how the actors acted, and between this foreign people and ourselves there is not only difference of race and tongue but a tremendous breach of tradition. All the more strange, then, is it that we should wish to know Greek, try to know Greek, feel for ever drawn back to Greek, and be for ever making up some notion of the meaning of Greek, though from what incongruous odds and ends, with what slight resemblance to the real meaning of Greek, who shall say?"
- 2 The written form of these languages. countable, uncountable
- 3 A surname. countable, uncountable
Antonyms
non greeknon greek languagenon greeksnon-greek word
Example
"We studied Greek culture from various aspects."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "greek"?
Common synonyms include: hellene, grecian, hellenic, achaean, aesopian language, affiliate.
How do you use "greek" in a sentence?
We studied Greek culture from various aspects.
How do you pronounce "greek"?
Pronounced /ɡɹiːk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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.
Etymology 2
Probably from Greek (“unintelligible speech or text”).