List of Greek words with English derivatives

From Academic Kids

This list is incomplete.

This is a list of Greek words with derivatives in English (and other modern languages).

Contents
Transliteration Greek Words with Modern Derivatives Α Β Γ Δ Ε Ζ Η Θ Ι Κ Λ Μ Ν Ξ Ο Π Ρ Σ Τ Υ Φ Χ Ψ Ω See also External links

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Transliteration

There are considerable differences between the various transliterations used to represent the Greek alphabet in English. The table in the sidebar shows:

the "traditional" transliteration, in other words that used in Latin, representing classical Greek: this is the form in which most Greek words have made their way into English
a "classical" transliteration, commonly used to represent more accurately the pronunciation of Ancient Greek
the "modern" transliteration often used for Modern Greek — see Transliteration of Greek into English for some variations.

Greek had no letter h: a rough breathing over an initial vowel or diphthong – Template:Polytonic – indicates that the word was pronounced with an initial h, and a smooth breathing – Template:Polytonic – indicates the absence of an h, but this has since disappeared in speech, and Modern Greek omits the breathings. An initial upsilon (Template:Polytonic) always had the rough breathing – Template:Polytonic – hence hy is very common at the start of words derived from Greek, but no (or very few) such words start with y.

The letter rho (Template:Polytonic) at the start of a word always had the rough breathing – Template:Polytonic – and is transliterated rh. If a rho occurred doubled within a word, the first Template:Polytonic always had the smooth breathing and the second the rough breathing – Template:Polytonic – leading to the transiliteration rrh.

For a fuller discussion of these matters, see Greek alphabet.

Note: the distinction between the rough and smooth breathings as shown above may not be very clear on certain browsers.

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Greek Words with Modern Derivatives

The Citation form shown is the form most commonly shown in dictionaries, but this form is often unrepresentative of the word as used to form a compound word, hence the Root form is also shown.

The "classical" transliteration as described above is used for both the Citation form and the Root form.

The Greek words are shown in polytonic orthography, in other words showing the breathings and the fuller range of accents, as used in Ancient Greek.

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Α

(h)a

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	hals	Template:Polytonic-	hal-	salt	halogen
Template:Polytonic	anēr	Template:Polytonic-	andr-	man (male human)	androgen
Template:Polytonic	anthos	Template:Polytonic-	antho-	flower	anthology
Template:Polytonic	anthrōpos	Template:Polytonic-	anthrōpo-	human being	anthropomorphism
Template:Polytonic	arakhnē	Template:Polytonic	arakhnē-	spider	arachnid
Template:Polytonic	aristos	Template:Polytonic-	arist-	best	aristocracy
Template:Polytonic	arkhaios	Template:Polytonic-	arkhaio-	ancient	archaeology
Template:Polytonic	astēr	Template:Polytonic-	aster-	star	asteroid
Template:Polytonic	astron	Template:Polytonic-	astro-	constellation	astrology
Template:Polytonic	autos	Template:Polytonic-	auto-	self (reflexive pronoun)	autonomy

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Β

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	barbaros	Template:Polytonic-	barbaro-	stranger, non-Greek	barbarian
Template:Polytonic	barus	Template:Polytonic-	baru-	heavy	baritone
Template:Polytonic	bios	Template:Polytonic-	bio-	life	biology
Template:Polytonic	brachus	Template:Polytonic-	brachu-	short	brachycephalic

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Γ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	gaia, gē	Template:Polytonic-	gea-	earth	geology, Gaia
Template:Polytonic	gamos	Template:Polytonic-	gam-	marriage	polygamy
Template:Polytonic	graphein	Template:Polytonic-	graph-	to write	graphics, geography
Template:Polytonic	gunē	Template:Polytonic-	gunaik-	woman	polygyny, gynecology

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Δ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	dēmos	Template:Polytonic-	dēmo-	district, its inhabitants, commoners	democracy
Template:Polytonic	doxa	Template:Polytonic-	dox-	opinion	orthodox

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Ε

(h)e

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	hepta	Template:Polytonic-	hepta-	seven	heptarchy
Template:Polytonic	eu	Template:Polytonic-	eu-	well	eulogy

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Ζ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	zōon	Template:Polytonic-	zōo-	animal	zoology

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Η

(h)ē

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	hēgemōn	Template:Polytonic-	hēgemon-	leader	hegemony
Template:Polytonic	ēōs	Template:Polytonic-	ēo-	dawn	eocene

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Θ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	theos	Template:Polytonic-	the-	a god	theology
Template:Polytonic	thermos	Template:Polytonic-	therm-	hot	isotherm

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Ι

(h)i

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	iatros	Template:Polytonic-	iatro-	doctor	psychiatrist
Template:Polytonic	idios	Template:Polytonic-	idi-	one�s own, private	idiolect
Template:Polytonic	hieros	Template:Polytonic-	hiero-	sacred	hierarchy
Template:Polytonic	ikhthus	Template:Polytonic-	ikhthu-	fish	ichthyology, Ikhthus

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Κ

k, c

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	kakos	Template:Polytonic-	kako-	bad	cacophony
Template:Polytonic	kosmos	Template:Polytonic-	kosm-	order, the universe	cosmography, cosmetic
Template:Polytonic	kratos	Template:Polytonic-	krat-	power, rule	autocrat

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Λ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	lithos	Template:Polytonic-	litho-	stone	lithography
Template:Polytonic	logos	Template:Polytonic-	logo-	thought, word	theology

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Μ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	makros	Template:Polytonic-	makro-	long	macron, macrobiotic
Template:Polytonic	melas	Template:Polytonic-	melan-	pigmented, black, ink	Melanesia
Template:Polytonic	mikros	Template:Polytonic-	mikro-	small	microscope
Template:Polytonic	mnēstis	Template:Polytonic-	mne-	memory	amnesia, amnesty
Template:Polytonic	monos	Template:Polytonic-	mono-	alone, solitary, forsaken	monotony
Template:Polytonic	Mousa	Template:Polytonic-	mous-	a patron goddess of the arts	music

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Ν

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	neos	Template:Polytonic-	neo-	new, young	neon, neologism

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Ξ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	xenos	Template:Polytonic-	xeno-	strange, stranger, guest	xenophobia
Template:Polytonic	xulon	Template:Polytonic-	xul-	wood	xylophone, xylem

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Ο

(h)o

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	oligos	Template:Polytonic-	oligo-	few, little, small	oligarchy
Template:Polytonic	homoios	Template:Polytonic-	homoio-	similar	homeopathy
Template:Polytonic	oxus	Template:Polytonic-	oxu-	sharp, acid	oxygen
Template:Polytonic	orthos	Template:Polytonic-	orth-	straight, correct	orthography

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Π

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	pathos	Template:Polytonic-	path-	suffering, disease	pathology
Template:Polytonic	paideia	Template:Polytonic-	paideia-	education, culture	encyclopaedia
Template:Polytonic	pais	Template:Polytonic-	paid-	boy, child	pedophilia
Template:Polytonic	pas	Template:Polytonic-	pan-, panto-	all, complete	pantheism, pantomime
Template:Polytonic	peri	Template:Polytonic-	peri	around	perimeter
Template:Polytonic	polus	Template:Polytonic-	polu-	many, much	Polynesia

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Ρ

r(h)

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	rhis	Template:Polytonic-	rhin-	nose	rhinoceros

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Σ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	sauros	Template:Polytonic-	sauro-	lizard	dinosaur
Template:Polytonic	skopos	Template:Polytonic-	skop-	observer	telescope
Template:Polytonic	sophia	Template:Polytonic-	sophia-	knowledge, wisdom	philosophy, sophistry

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Τ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	tēle	Template:Polytonic-	tēle-	far away	telephone, telepathy
Template:Polytonic	toxon	Template:Polytonic-	tox-	archer�s bow, poison	toxin

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Υ

(h)u, (h)y

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	hupnos	Template:Polytonic-	hupno-	sleep	hypnotism

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Φ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	philia, philos	Template:Polytonic-	philia-, philo-	friendship friend	Philadelphia
Template:Polytonic	phobia phobos	Template:Polytonic-	phobia phobo-	irrational fear fear	phobia Phobos
Template:Polytonic	phuton	Template:Polytonic-	phuto-	plant	neophyte
Template:Polytonic	phōnē	Template:Polytonic-	phōnē-	voice	telephone

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Χ

kh, ch

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	khaitē	Template:Polytonic-	khaitē-	loose, flowing hair	polychaete
Template:Polytonic	khronos	Template:Polytonic-	khrono-	time	chronology

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Ψ

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	psukhē	Template:Polytonic-	psukhē-	spirit, mind	psychology

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Ω

(h)ō

Citation form		Root form		Meaning	English Derivative
Template:Polytonic	ōon	Template:Polytonic-	ōo-	egg	oocyte
Template:Polytonic	hōra	Template:Polytonic-	hōra-	season, hour	horoscope

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External links

The Perseus Project (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/) - has many useful pages for the study of classical languages and literatures, including dictionaries.

Retrieved from "http://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/List_of_Greek_words_with_English_derivatives"

Categories: Incomplete lists | Glossaries | Greek language | Etymology

List of Greek words with English derivatives

From Academic Kids

Transliteration

Greek Words with Modern Derivatives

Α

Β

Γ

Δ

Ε

Ζ

Η

Θ

Ι

Κ

Λ

Μ

Ν

Ξ

Ο

Π

Ρ

Σ

Τ

Υ

Φ

Χ

Ψ

Ω

See also

External links

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