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Greek Loanwords in English

Article by Heather Marie Kosur (13,819 pts )
Published on Dec 18, 2009
Part 2 of 2 in the series: Foreign Loanwords in English

The following article explains the Greek influence on the English language through the borrowing of Greek loanwords into English.

Loanwords from Greek

The English language has borrowed extensively from the Greek language beginning during the Germanic period when many words borrowed from Latin were originally borrowed into Latin from Greek. English continued to borrow from Greek through Latin during the Old English period. However, most of the Greek loanwords in English were borrowed during the Early Modern English period by scholars, scientists, writers, and other highly educated English speakers. Thus, although English is a Germanic language, many common and everyday words as well as the vocabulary of specialized domains such as science including linguistics are of Greek origin.

List of Greek Loanwords

With all the loanwords borrowed from Greek into English, an exhaustive list would be too lengthy to be possible. The following are some of the commonly used Greek loanwords in English:

  • academia
  • academy
  • acoustics
  • aesthetics
  • amnesia
  • analogy
  • analysis
  • analytic
  • anatomy
  • angel
  • anonymous
  • antagonist
  • antarctica
  • anthropology
  • antibiotic
  • antiseptic
  • apathy
  • apocalypse
  • archaeology
  • archipelago
  • architecture
  • arctic
  • armageddon
  • atmosphere
  • atom
  • autocracy
  • autograph
  • barbarian
  • bible
  • biology
  • butter
  • calligraphy
  • cannabis
  • catapult
  • catastrophe
  • category
  • catharsis
  • chamomile
  • character
  • charisma
  • chord
  • christ
  • chronology
  • clergy
  • cleric
  • clerk
  • climate
  • climax
  • comedy
  • contiguity
  • critic
  • cynic
  • data
  • democracy
  • demography
  • demon
  • diagnosis
  • diagonal
  • dialect
  • diameter
  • diamond
  • diaspora
  • dichotomy
  • dinosaur
  • disaster
  • dogma
  • dolphin
  • dragon
  • ecology
  • economics
  • ecstasy
  • eczema
  • electron
  • emblem
  • embryo
  • empathy
  • emphasis
  • encyclopedia
  • energy
  • ephemeral
  • epicenter
  • epilepsy
  • epiphany
  • epistemology
  • ethics
  • ethos
  • etiology
  • etymology
  • eucharist
  • euphoria
  • galley
  • genetics
  • geography
  • geometry
  • giant
  • grammar
  • gymnasium
  • gymnastics
  • harmony
  • hemisphere
  • hermeneutics
  • hero
  • hierarchy
  • hippopotamus
  • history
  • homonym
  • hormone
  • horoscope
  • hydraulics
  • hymn
  • hypnosis
  • hysteria
  • idiot
  • jealousy
  • kaleidoscope
  • kinesis
  • lexicography
  • lexicology
  • lexicon
  • lexis
  • lion
  • lithography
  • logic
  • lyrics
  • mania
  • maniac
  • marble
  • martyr
  • mathematics
  • mechanic
  • melody
  • mentor
  • metamorphosis
  • metaphor
  • meteorology
  • monarch
  • monarchy
  • monastery
  • monk
  • monogamy
  • monotheism
  • morpheme
  • morphology
  • museum
  • music
  • mythology
  • nausea
  • necromancy
  • nemesis
  • neurology
  • nostalgia
  • ocean
  • oceanography
  • octopus
  • optics
  • organ
  • organism
  • organization
  • orgasm
  • orthodoxy
  • ostracize
  • pain
  • paranoia
  • parasite
  • pasta
  • pathos
  • patriarch
  • phenomenon
  • philology
  • philosophy
  • phobia
  • phonograph
  • phonology
  • photograph
  • photography
  • piracy
  • placenta
  • plasma
  • plastic
  • pneumonia
  • poetry
  • prophet
  • protagonist
  • prototype
  • psyche
  • psychiatry
  • psychology
  • psychosis
  • pyramid
  • quince
  • rhetoric
  • rhinoceros
  • rhombus
  • rhythm
  • scandal
  • schema
  • schizophrenia
  • school
  • scorpion
  • semantics
  • skeleton
  • sketch
  • sphere
  • stadium
  • stereotype
  • sycophant
  • syllogism
  • symbol
  • sympathy
  • symptom
  • synonym
  • syntax
  • taxonomy
  • theology
  • theory
  • thermodynamics
  • thesaurus
  • thesis
  • tragedy
  • typography
  • urethra
  • xenophobia
  • xylophone
  • zealot
  • zoology

Related Articles

Sources

  • Loanwords: major Periods of borrowing in the history of english: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/loanwords.html
  • Wikipedia: greek Loanwords: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/category:greek_loanwords

Foreign Loanwords in English

English has borrowed many words from many foreign languages over the history of the language. The following series discusses the major languages from English has borrowed and lists some of the most commonly used foreign loanwords.
2. 
Greek Loanwords in English

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Heather Marie Kosur (13,819 pts )

I am a writer and Contributing Editor for a number of channels here at Bright Hub. I am also a Library Specialist at Milner Library at Illinois State University. I earned a BA in English studies with a...read more

 
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