Greek Dictionary

For people who say it seems Greek to me, a Greek dictionary may come in handy. This could be a dictionary written in Greek, a dictionary of Greek terms, or most commonly a Greek to English translator. We’ll examine some of these.

Before we look at a Greek dictionary, let’s look at the phrase it’s Greek to me. Many people attribute this phrase to Shakespeare. In his play Julius Caesar there is a quote “but for my own part, it was Greek to me.” It meant that it was impossible to understand. But Shakespeare didn’t come up with this phrase. It was already in common use in Shakespeare’s time. It likely dates back to ancient Rome. There is a Latin phrase that translates to “it is Greek, and cannot be understood.” It’s likely, however, that Shakespeare made it popular enough that it lasted until the present day.

A Greek dictionary could be important. While people think the languages of antiquity are dead, they are not. Many of our present words have roots in Latin and Greek. So by studying the Greek language a person could learn more about our own language. People who have a good grasp of the language go far in life. This can be as simple as being able to speak well, to a better ability to communicate through the written word.

The study of etymology looks into the origin of words. In our language many of the words have roots in the Greek. These origins can often be found by looking into a Greek dictionary. Many of our prefixes and suffixes come from Greek. For example the term androgynous begins with a Greek root and ends with the Greek root. Andro is Greek meaning men. Gynous is from the Greek meaning not masculine, in other words women. Therefore the word is a combination of man and woman. An androgynous person is someone who displays aspects of both genders. See how much sense it makes when we know the Greek roots?

Google has one of the best translators online. In a sense it’s like the Greek dictionary because any English word, sentence, or even paragraph can be translated into Greek. Likewise Greek phrases can be translated back into English. There are many people who use translators of this nature to communicate with people in other countries. It’s not perfect. But it works well enough.

A Greek dictionary can open a whole new world of language for people. Try one today.

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4. English Gaelic Dictionary
5. German Dictionary
6. Spanish Dictionary
7. German English Dictionary
8. Hebrew Dictionary