Greek
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: grēk
ipa: /ɡɹiːk/
rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: Greeks
form: Gr.
form: Greeke
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.
Senses: examples: text: The Greeks believed the sun went round the earth.
glosses: A person from Greece or of Greek descent.
glosses: Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food.
examples: text: "I don't hear one word in ten that they say," continued Mrs. Abingdon; "it's Greek to me. However, ..."
ref: 1821, Mary Jane Mackenzie, Geraldine, page 8:
text: "It's all Greek to me," said my companion at the outset, but as the warrior continued, his fears arose within him; it might be sentence of death—what did he know what it might not be?
ref: 1859, Kinahan Cornwallis, Two Journeys to Japan, 1856–7, volume 2, page 246:
text: preferred risk... family maintenance... 20-pay life. That's a bare sampling of the merchandise you're asked to pick and choose from. If it sounds like Greek to you, don't worry. It sounds like Greek to most people.
ref: 1951 December, “Which Kind of Life Insurance Policy?”, in Changing Times – The Kiplinger Magazine, volume 5, number 12, page 28:
glosses: Synonym of gibberish, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.
synonyms: word: gibberish
word: used for foreign speech or text
word: technical jargon
word: or advanced subjects
glosses: Synonym of lorem ipsum, dummy placeholder text used in greeking.
synonyms: word: lorem ipsum
word: dummy placeholder text used in greeking
examples: text: Was Joe a Greek in college?
glosses: A member of a collegiate fraternity or sorority.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 1822, A Morning in Cork-Street: or, Raising the wind, page 102:
text: When Greek meets Greek neither is wont to get much satisfaction.
ref: 1897, Stanley John Weyman, “The Deanery Ball”, in For the Cause:
glosses: A cunning rogue.
glosses: A merry fellow.
examples: text: 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.)
ref: 2001, "ASP: 'Julie' of Oral-Land-Oh", alt.sex.prostitution, Usenet
text: “What's within reason?” “Hand-job, blow-job, full sex — straight, full service. Greek, maybe, if you're not too big. Golden shower, if you like, but not reverse. No hardsports. And absolutely nothing without.”
ref: 2012, Maxim Jakubowski, The Best British Crime Omnibus:
glosses: Anal sex.
topics: business
finance
glosses: One of the Greeks, measures of derivative price sensitivity.
Synonyms: sense: anal sex
word: anal sex
word: Grecian
word: Greek
word: Greeke
word: Hellene
Hypernyms: word: European
word: person
Hyponyms: word: Arcadian
word: Athenian
word: Attican
word: Corfiot
word: Coan
word: Corinthian
word: Constantinopolitan
word: Cretan
word: Cypriot
word: Delphian
word: Eleusinian
word: Epirot
word: Euboean
word: Griko
word: Ionian
word: Lacedaemonian
word: Lesbian
word: Lesviot
word: Macedonian
word: Megarian
word: Minoan
word: Naxiot
word: Olympian
word: Peloponnesian
word: Plataean
word: Rhodian
word: Spartan
word: Theban
word: Thessalian
word: Thessalonian
word: Thessalonican
word: Thracian
Derived terms: Greek active
Greekdom
Greek Empire
Greekess
Greek fire
Greek gift
Greek it
Greekland
Greekling
Greek passive
Related terms: Griko