Skip to content

Greek → English

Greek in English

From atoms to democracy, English leans on ancient Greek for the vocabulary of science, thought, and everyday life.

2,729 words · 0 Greek roots

183 words in Words & Writing

Quiz me

Acronym

Words
ἄκροςákros

“tip name”

Acrostic

Words
ἄκροςákros

“at the tip of the line”

Allegory

Words
ἄλλοςállos

“speaking otherwise”

Alpha

Words
ἄλφαálpha

“ox, from Phoenician ʾālep”

Amphibrach

Words
ἀμφίamphí

“short at both ends”

Anachronism

Words
ἀνάaná

“a putting back in time”

Anacoluthon

Words
ἀν-an-

“not following on”

Anadiplosis

Words
ἀνάaná

“a doubling back”

Anagram

Words
ἀνάaná

“letters over again”

Analogy

Words
ἀνάaná

“according to ratio”

Anapaest

Words
ἀνάaná

“struck back”

Anaphora

Words
ἀνάaná

“a carrying back”

Anecdote

Words
ἀν-an-

“things not published”

Anonymous

Words
ἀν-an-

“without a name”

Anthroponym

Words
ἄνθρωποςánthrōpos

“human name”

Antihero

Words
ἀντίantí

“in place of a hero”

Antistrophe

Words
ἀντίantí

“a turning back”

Antonomasia

Words
ἀντίantí

“naming instead”

Antonym

Words
ἀντίantí

“opposite name”

Aphorism

Words
ἀπόapó

“a marking off”

Apologue

Words
ἀπόapó

“a telling-off, a tale told”

Apology

Words
ἀπόapó

“a speaking back”

Apophasis

Words
ἀπόapó

“a speaking away, denial”

Aposiopesis

Words
ἀπόapó

“a falling silent”

Apostrophe

Words
ἀπόapó

“a turning away”

Apothegm

Words
ἀπόapó

“a thing uttered plainly”

Archaism

Words
ἀρχαῖοςarkhaîos

“the practice of the old”

Asterisk

Words
ἀστερίσκοςasterískos

“little star”

Asyndeton

Words
ἀ-a-

“not bound together”

Autobiography

Words
αὐτόςautós

“self-life-writing”

Autograph

Words
αὐτόςautós

“self-written”

Barbarism

Words
βάρβαροςbárbaros

“speaking like a foreigner”

Bathos

Words
βάθοςbáthos

“depth”

Beta

Words
βῆταbêta

“house, from Phoenician bēt”

Bibliography

Words
βιβλίονbiblíon

“book-writing”

Bibliophile

Words
βιβλίονbiblíon

“book lover”

Biography

Words
βίοςbíos

“life-writing”

Bombast

Words
βόμβυξbómbux

“cotton padding”

Bucolic

Words
βοῦςboûs

“cowherd-like”

Cacography

Words
κακόςkakós

“bad writing”

Catachresis

Words
κατάkatá

“misuse”

Catalogue

Words
κατάkatá

“a reckoning down the list”

Catastrophe

Words
κατάkatá

“a turning down”

Chiasmus

Words
χιασμόςchiasmós

“a crossing shaped like the letter chi”

Chirography

Words
χείρkheír

“hand writing”

Chronicle

Words
χρονικάchroniká

“things of time”

Colophon

Words
κολοφώνkolophṓn

“the finishing stroke”

Comma

Words
κόμμαkómma

“something struck off”