English Words of Greek Origin

English Words Of Greek Origin

The Greek language has contributed to the English vocabulary in five main ways:

  • vernacular borrowings, transmitted through Vulgar Latin directly into Old English e.g. 'butter' (Old English butere < Latin butyrum < βούτυρον), or through French, e.g. 'ochre'.
  • learned borrowings from classical Greek, e.g. 'physics' (< Latin physica < Greek τα φυσικά);
  • a few borrowings via Arabic scientific and philosophical writing, e.g. alchemy (< χημεία);
  • coinages in post-classical Latin or modern languages using classical Greek roots, e.g. 'telephone' (< τήλε + φωνή) or a mixture of Greek and other roots, e.g. 'television' (< Greek τήλε + English vision < Latin visio); these are often shared among the modern European languages;
  • direct borrowings from Modern Greek, e.g. bouzouki.

The post-classical coinages are by far the most numerous of these.

Read more about English Words Of Greek Origin:  Indirect and Direct Borrowings, Greek As An Intermediary, The Written Form of Greek Words in English, Pronunciation, Inflectional Endings and Plurals, Verbs, Statistics

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