Greeks

How to spell greeks

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce greeks

What does greeks mean?

1. nounPeople who are natives or citizens of Greece, or who are of Greek descent.

Greeks in a sentence

• The ancient greeks built temples that still stand today.

• Many greeks settled along the Mediterranean coast in earlier centuries.

Where does greeks come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes from the Latin Graecus, the name the Romans used for the people of Greece, which was itself borrowed from the Greek Graikoi, an early tribal name for some of the Hellenes. Curiously, the Greeks generally called themselves Hellenes rather than Greeks; it was the Romans who spread the Graecus label across Europe. Old English took the term in as Grecas, and the modern spelling settled into the familiar 'Greek' form during the medieval period under continued Latin and French influence. The plural simply adds -s to give 'greeks', referring to more than one person of Greek nationality or descent. The double 'ee' in the middle preserves the long vowel sound and is the small spelling point worth fixing in memory.

How the word is built

• greek (the people of Greece)
• -s (plural suffix)