Grecian
English
Etymology
From Latin Graecia + -an.[1] Compare Old French grecien and Middle English grecan, grecen, greken, grekin.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈɡɹi.ʃən/
Adjective
Grecian (not comparable)
- (obsolete or poetic) Greek (of or from Greece or the Greek people, especially those of Ancient Greece).
- Synonym: Hellenic
- 1840, John Dunlop, The Universal Tendency to Association in Mankind. Analyzed and Illustrated, London: Houlston and Stoneman, page 103:
- Olympic Games. — Besides the ordinary confederacies that join independent states together, a singular federal bond is remarkable in the Olympic games, which for many ages cemented the Grecian commonwealths by a joint tie of recreation and religious ritual.
- 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald, “The Offshore Pirate”, in Flappers and Philosophers, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, page 11:
- He was a young man with a scornful mouth and the bright blue eyes of a healthy baby set in a dark sensitive face. His hair was pitch black, damp and curly—the hair of a Grecian statue gone brunette.
Derived terms
Noun
Grecian (plural Grecians)
- (obsolete) A native or inhabitant of Greece.
- A senior pupil at Christ's Hospital School in West Sussex, England.
- (obsolete) A Jew who spoke Greek; a Hellenist.
- (obsolete) One well versed in the Greek language; a scholar of Greek.
- 1791, James Boswell, “(please specify the year)”, in The Life of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. […], London: […] Henry Baldwin, for Charles Dilly, […], →OCLC:
- I spoke of Mr. Harris, of Salisbury, as being a very learned man, and in particular an eminent Grecian.
- 1847, Thomas De Quincey, “Protestantism”, in Theological Essays and Other Papers, volume 1:
- […] and I will so exhibit its very words as that the reader, even if no Grecian, may understand the point in litigation.
- (obsolete, slang) An Irish labourer newly arrived on the British mainland.
Derived terms
- (senior pupil at Christ's Hospital): Grecianship
References
- James A. H. Murray [et al.], editors (1884–1928), “Grecian (grī·ʃiăn), a. and sb.”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volumes IV (F–G), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 392, column 1: “f. L. Græci-a Greece + -an. Cf. OF. grecien.”
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