Greek
proper noun
- language spoken in Greece, Cyprus and Southern Albania
- inhabitant of Greece
- of, relating to, or characteristic of Greece, the Greeks, or Greek
- of or relating to fraternities or sororities
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /ɡɹiːk/
adj
Etymology: 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.
- 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.”
“Sanskrit, Greek, Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic names were all of this type, but there are also shorter names formed from the compound ones; […].”
- Synonym of incomprehensible, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.
- Of or relating to collegiate fraternities, sororities, or (uncommon) honor societies.
““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”.”
name
Etymology: 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.
- The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek.
“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?”
“It’s one that I would personally endorse: My individual circumstances were such that, by the age of 12, I could speak German, Greek and English, so languages became my passion and my hobby.”
- The written form of these languages.
- A surname.
noun
Etymology: Probably from Greek (“unintelligible speech or text”).
- Alternative letter-case form of Greek (“nonsense writing or talk; gibberish”).
- Alternative letter-case form of Greek (“anal sex”).
verb
Etymology: Probably from Greek (“unintelligible speech or text”).
- To display a placeholder (instead of text), especially to optimize speed in displaying text that would be too small to read.
“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.”
“If text gets smaller than this value, [Adobe] Illustrator shows the text blocks as gray bars, an operation called greeking. Both type size and view size figure into the equation, so that 6-point type greeks at 100-percent view size and 12-point type greeks at 50 percent. Greeking speeds the screen display because gray bars are easier to draw than individual characters.”
- To fill a template with nonsense text (particularly the Lorem ipsum), so that form can be focused on instead of content.
- To obscure a corporate logo that has not been permitted for use in a production.