How do you use the word "greek" in a sentence?

Q: How do you use the word "greek" in a sentence?

Here are real-life examples of using "greek": We studied Greek culture from various aspects. The Roman football game was like the Greek game.

Greek Meaning

/ɡɹiːk/

Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

Definition

nounAlternative letter-case form of Greek (“nonsense writing or talk; gibberish”).

adjOf or relating to Greece, its people, its language, or its culture.

Sentence Examples

We studied Greek culture from various aspects.

The Roman football game was like the Greek game.

We studied the writings of the Greek philosopher Aristotle.

CEFR Practice Quiz

The ancient city of Athens is known for its ____ history.

CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)

The professor specialized in ancient ____ philosophy and frequently cited works by Plato and Aristotle.

Word Origin & History

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.

Literary Quotations & Historical Citations

"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." — 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], chapter II, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC:

"Sanskrit, Greek, Slavonic, Germanic, and Celtic names were all of this type, but there are also shorter names formed from the compound ones; […]." — 1945, E[lizabeth] G[idley] Withycombe, “Introduction”, in The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page xii:

"The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates promoted wine for various purposes, including reducing fevers and dressing wounds." — 2022 January 22, Jonathan Reiner, “If you think that glass of wine is good for you, it’s time to reconsider”, in CNN, archived from the original on 12 Aug 2025:

"“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”." — 2023 May 24, Adrian Horton, “‘Competitive femininity’: inside the wild and secretive world of sororities”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 10 Jun 2023:

"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?" — 1925, Virginia Woolf, “On Not Knowing Greek”, in [Leonard Woolf], editor, Collected Essays, volume I, London: Hogarth Press, published 1966, →OCLC, page 1:

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