Greekとは 意味・読み方・使い方

別の表記

• Gr. (abbreviation)
• Greeke (obsolete)

語源

Inherited from 古期英語 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 中期英語, replacing 古期英語 Grēċisċ (“Greekish”) and earlier 中期英語 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.

発音

• enPR: grēk, IPA: /ɡɹiːk/
• 韻: -iːk

形容詞

Greek (comparative Greeker, superlative Greekest)

1. Of or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.
   • 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

     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.

   • 1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xii:

     Sanskrit, Greek, Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic names were all of this type, but there are also shorter names formed from the compound ones; […] .

   • 2022 January 22, Jonathan Reiner, “If you think that glass of wine is good for you, it’s time to reconsider”, in CNN‎:

     The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates promoted wine for various purposes, including reducing fevers and dressing wounds.

2. (figurative, colloquial) Synonym of incomprehensible, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.
3. (US, not comparable) Of or relating to collegiate fraternities, sororities, or (uncommon) honor societies.
   • 2023 May 24, Adrian Horton, “‘Competitive femininity’: inside the wild and secretive world of sororities”, in The Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     “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”.

使用する際の注意点

• Currently, it is more common to refer to college fraternities and sororities as Greek life etc., while Greek-letter is still used in reference to honor societies using similar names.

同意語

• (senses relating to Greece, Greeks, and Greek): See Thesaurus:Greek

上位語

• (senses relating to Greece, Greeks, and Greek): Greco-Roman

派生語

固有名詞

Greek (countable and uncountable, plural Greeks)

1. The language spoken by people of Greece, particularly, depending on context, Ancient Greek or Modern Greek.
   • 1925, Virginia Woolf, “On Not Knowing Greek”, in [Leonard Woolf], editor, Collected Essays, volume I, London: Hogarth Press, published 1966, →OCLC, page 1:

     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?

   • 2021 April 25, John Malathronas, “Which languages are easiest – and most difficult – for native English speakers to learn?”, in CNN‎, archived from the original on 22 March 2022:

     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.

2. The written form of these languages.
3. A surname.

使用する際の注意点

• In modern contexts including Wiktionary's entries, Greek is used for the language of modern Greece and Ancient Greek or one of its synonyms for the language of antiquity. In discussion of antiquity, Greek is frequently used to mean the ancient form sometimes inclusive of Koine and Modern Greek or one of its synonyms is used to distinguish the modern language. In all cases, minor dialects like Ionic Greek are distinguished unless absolutely clear from context.

派生語

関連する語

• Griko

名詞

Greek (countable and uncountable, plural Greeks)

1. (countable) A person from Greece or of Greek descent.

   The Greeks believed the sun went round the earth.

2. (uncountable) Greek cuisine, traditional or representative Greek food.
3. (uncountable, figurative, colloquial) Synonym of gibberish, used for foreign speech or text, technical jargon, or advanced subjects.
   • 1821, Mary Jane Mackenzie, Geraldine‎, page 8:

     "I don't hear one word in ten that they say," continued Mrs. Abingdon; "it's Greek to me. However, ..."

   • 1859, Kinahan Cornwallis, Two Journeys to Japan, 1856–7‎, volume 2, page 246:

     "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?

   • 1951 December, “Which Kind of Life Insurance Policy?”, in Changing Times – The Kiplinger Magazine‎, volume 5, number 12, page 28:

     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.

4. (uncountable, figurative, metonymic, colloquial) Synonym of lorem ipsum, dummy placeholder text used in greeking.
5. (countable, US, metonymic, colloquial) A member of a collegiate fraternity or sorority.

   Was Joe a Greek in college?

6. (countable, archaic, slang) A cunning rogue.
   • 1822, A Morning in Cork-Street: or, Raising the wind, page 102:

     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.

   • 1897, Stanley John Weyman, “The Deanery Ball”, in For the Cause:

     When Greek meets Greek neither is wont to get much satisfaction.

7. (countable, archaic, slang) A merry fellow.
8. (uncountable, slang) Anal sex.
   • 2001, "ASP: 'Julie' of Oral-Land-Oh", alt.sex.prostitution, Usenet:

     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.)

   • 2012, Maxim Jakubowski, The Best British Crime Omnibus:

     “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.”

9. (finance, chiefly in the plural) One of the Greeks, measures of derivative price sensitivity.

同意語

• (person from Greece or a descendant): See Thesaurus:Greek
• (anal sex): See Thesaurus:anal sex

派生語

関連する語

• Griko

動詞

Greek (third-person singular simple present Greeks, present participle Greeking, simple past and past participle Greeked)

1. (obsolete) To cheat at cards.
   • 1817, Sporting Magazine, number 50, page 284:

     A discovery of Greeking at Brighton, has made considerable noise this month in the sporting world.

2. (uncommon) Alternative letter-case form of greek.

参考

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Greek terms
• Appendix:Greek Swadesh list for a Swadesh list of basic vocabulary words in Greek

• Greek–English Dictionary: from Webster’s Dictionary — the Rosetta Edition.
• ISO 639-1 code el, ISO 639-3 code ell (SIL)
• Ethnologue entry for Greek, ell ⁠

参照

• “Greek, adj.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• “Greek, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
• “† Greek, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021.

Further reading

• Names of the Greeks on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Griko on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

アナグラム

• Gerke