Greek

Found only in the New Testament, where a distinction is observed between “Greek” and “Grecian” (q.v.). The former is (1) a Greek by race (Acts 16:1-3; 18:17; Rom. 1:14), or (2) a Gentile as opposed to a Jew (Rom. 2:9, 10). The latter, meaning properly “one who speaks Greek,” is a foreign Jew opposed to a home Jew who dwelt in Palestine. The word “Grecians” in Acts 11:20 should be “Greeks,” denoting the heathen Greeks of that city, as rendered in the Revised Version according to the reading of the best manuscripts (“Hellenes”).

Part of speech: noun (n.)

1. A native, or one of the people, of Greece; a Grecian; also, the language of Greece.

2. A swindler; a knave; a cheat. [Slang] Without a confederate the . . . game of baccarat does not . . . offer many chances for the Greek. Sat. Rev.

3. Something unintelligible; as, it was all Greek to me. [Colloq.]

Part of speech: adjective (a.)

Of or pertaining to Greece or the Greeks; Grecian. Greek calends. See under Calends. -- Greek Church (Eccl. Hist.), the Eastern Church; that part of Christendom which separated from the Roman or Western Church in the ninth century. It comprises the great bulk of the Christian population of Russia (of which this is the established church), Greece, Moldavia, and Wallachia. The Greek Church is governed by patriarchs and is called also the Byzantine Church. -- Greek cross. See Illust. (10) Of Cross. -- Greek Empire. See Byzantine Empire. -- Greek fire, a combustible composition which burns under water, the constituents of which are supposed to be asphalt, with niter and sulphur. Ure. -- Greek rose, the flower campion.