Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A Greek.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun An ancient Greek; properly, a Greek of pure race: traditionally said to be so called from Hellen, son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, the legendary ancestor of the true Greeks, consisting of the Dorians, Æolians, Ionians, and Acheans.
  • noun A subject of the modern kingdom of Greece, or Hellas.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A native of either ancient or modern Greece; a Greek.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a Greek, especially an ancient Greek

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a native or inhabitant of Greece

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek Hellēn.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek Ἕλλην (Hellēn, "Greek"), most probably a derivation of Ἑλλοί or Σελλοί, the Greek inhabitants of the area around the sanctuary of Dodona (Δωδώνη), itself of pre-Greek origin.. In Greek mythology Ἕλλην (Hellēn), whom the Ἕλληνες (Hellēnes, "Greeks") were named after, was the son of Δευκαλίων (Deukaliōn) and Πύῤῥα (Purrha).

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word Hellene.

Examples

  • Young folk, who had been little children when she died, admired what they called his Hellene fairness.

    The Bull From The Sea Renault, Mary 1962

  • There is no evidence for the word Hellene in Mycenaean times.

    The King Must Die Renault, Mary, 1905-1983 1958

  • From there the name Hellene spread throughout Thessaly.

    The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume 6: Fathers of the Church-Gregory XI 1840-1916 1913

  • This {arkinoia} of the Hellene is the necessary sharp shrewdness of a brain, which, however “affectively” developed, is at bottom highly organised intellectually.

    Cyropaedia 2007

  • One heard this "Hellene" everywhere, and often it had meaning.

    The Bull From The Sea Renault, Mary 1962

  • “Ha! It is a dream-spirit that speaks to me in Jeb’ez,” Radi Arumi said in pidgin Hellene.

    Kushiel's Avatar Carey, Jacqueline, 1964- 2003

  • Several authors collapsed the distinction between Greeks and non-Greeks completely, using the term 'Hellene' to refer to anyone sharing similar cultural norms rather than to describe an ethnic group.

    openDemocracy Naoise MacSweeney 2010

  • Iannis explained, correspond to the '' Hellene '' and the '' Romoi ''. '

    FXstreet.com Mizuho Corporate Bank 2010

  • Phèdre, they called me, neither one knowing that it is a Hellene name, and cursed.

    Writer Unboxed » Blog Archive » Voice 101 2010

  • Too, a lot of poetry, including that of Nobel-prize winners, has been set to compulsively singable music by Hellene popular composers - and the songs are sung across Hellas independently of social stratum.

    Athena Andreadis, Ph.D.: The Andreadis Unibrow Theory of Art 2010

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.