GREEK • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Greek

Add this Dictionary
to your website!
See more options...

/grik/ Listen

adjective

Greek adj. Of or pertaining to Greece or the Greeks; Grecian.

Greek calends. See under Greek calends in the vocabulary.

Greek Church (Eccl. Hist.), the Eastern Church; that part of Christendom which separated from the Roman or Western Church in the ninth century. It comprises the great bulk of the Christian population of Russia (of which this is the established church), Greece, Moldavia, and Wallachia. The Greek Church is governed by patriarchs and is called also the Byzantine Church.

Greek cross. See Illust. (10) Of Cross.

Greek Empire. See Byzantine Empire.

Greek fire, a combustible composition which burns under water, the constituents of which are supposed to be asphalt, with niter and sulphur.

Greek rose, the flower campion.

noun

Greek n.

1.

A native, or one of the people, of Greece; a Grecian; also, the language of Greece.

2.

A swindler; a knave; a cheat. (Slang) "Without a confederate the... game of baccarat does not... offer many chances for the Greek."

3.

Something unintelligible; as, it was all Greek to me. (Colloq.)

See images of 'Greek'

Etymology of 'Greek'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

Share |

"Greek" Quotes from Famous Books

... one of entire passive contemplation, and that good works and active industry were only fitting for those who were toiling in a lower sphere and had not attained to the higher regions of spiritual mysticism. Thus the '[Greek: Aesuchastai]' on Mount Athos contemplated their nose or their navel, and called the effect of their meditations "the divine light," and Molinos pined in his dungeon, and left his works to be castigated by the renowned Bossuet. The pious, devout, and learned ...

— Books Fatal to Their Authors • P. H. Ditchfield

... a French author, might have given some light into; but that is unhappily among the lost works of that philosopher. It is remarkable that galerus, which is Latin for a hat, signifies likewise a dog-fish, as the Greek word kuneae doth the skin of that animal; of which I suppose the hats or helmets of the ancients were composed, as ours at present are of the beaver or rabbit. Sophocles, in the latter end of his Ajax, alludes to a method ...

— The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great • Henry Fielding

... to have crammed a good deal into a short life," observed Dalrymple. "It must have been a classic ship, where they taught Greek and Latin." ...

— Casa Braccio, Volumes 1 and 2 (of 2) • F. Marion Crawford

... populated by Greeks who had revolted and claimed incorporation in Greece. This Prussian complaisance was doubtless due to the fact that Venizelos, who had resigned owing to Constantine's opposition to his policy, had at the Greek general election in June secured nearly a two to one majority in the Greek Chamber. Greece could not be allowed the benefit of a Prussian queen when it chose ...

— A Short History of the Great War • A.F. Pollard

... which, and game in general, Russia abounds more than any other part of the world; and to such sports, manly exercises, and feats of gallantry and activity as show the gentleman better than musty Greek or Latin, or all the perfume, finery, and capers of French wits ...

— The Children's Hour, v 5. Stories From Seven Old Favorites • Eva March Tappan

Copyright © 2025 e-Free Translation.com