Hellenic

/hɛˈlɛnɪk/

Other forms: Hellenics; Hellenically

When you're describing things related to ancient Greece, you can use the adjective Hellenic. If you admire wisdom and reason above all else, you might name the goddess Athena as your favorite Hellenic figure.

While the word Hellenic often describes ancient Greek culture, it can also apply to modern Greece. Your favorite Hellenic treat may be baklava, while your brother prefers savory spanakopita. And if you dream of a Hellenic adventure, you hope for the chance to travel to Greece one day (the country's official name is, in fact, the Hellenic Republic). The Greek root is Hellēn, known in mythology as "the ancestor," or the original Greek.

Definitions of Hellenic

1. adjective

   of or relating to or characteristic of Greece or the Greeks or the Greek language
   synonyms: Grecian, Greek
2. noun

   the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages
   synonyms: Greek, Hellenic language

   types:

   Modern Greek, New Greek

   the Greek language as spoken and written today

   Late Greek

   the Greek language in the 3rd to 8th centuries

   Byzantine Greek, Medieval Greek, Middle Greek

   the Greek language from about 600 to 1200 AD

   Koine

   a Greek dialect that flourished under the Roman Empire

   Ancient Greek

   the Greek language prior to the Roman Empire

   Demotic, Romaic

   the modern Greek vernacular

   Katharevusa

   literary style of Modern Greek containing features borrowed from Koine

   Attic, Classical Greek, Ionic, Ionic dialect

   the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken and written in Attica and Athens and Ionia

   Aeolic, Aeolic dialect, Eolic

   the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken in Thessaly and Boeotia and Aeolis

   Arcadic, Arcadic dialect

   the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken by Arcadians

   Doric, Doric dialect

   the dialect of Ancient Greek spoken in Doris

   type of:

   Indo-European, Indo-European language, Indo-Hittite

   the family of languages that by 1000 BC were spoken throughout Europe and in parts of southwestern and southern Asia
3. adjective

   of or pertaining to or characteristic of the ancient Greek and Roman cultures
   synonyms: Graeco-Roman, Greco-Roman, classic, classical

   classic, classical

   of or relating to the most highly developed stage of an earlier civilisation and its culture
4. adjective

   relating to or characteristic of the classical Greek civilization
   synonyms: Hellenistic, Hellenistical