## Etymology
From Ancient Greek Hellenikos ('Greek'), from Hellen, the legendary ancestor and eponym of the Hellenes (the Greeks' name for themselves).

## AI Etymology
hellenic comes from Ancient Greek Hellenikos ('Greek'), from Hellen, the legendary ancestor and eponym of the Hellenes (the Greeks' name for themselves). The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the adjective sense is "relating to ancient or modern Greece, its people, or culture", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also appears in related forms such as hellenism, hellenist, hellenize, and hellene, and in derivatives such as hellenically. Its semantic neighborhood includes greek and grecian, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Ancient Greek Hellenikos and Ancient Greek Hellen.

## Topics
- Culture & History
- Word Formation & Derivatives

markdown

hellenic

Meanings

Thesaurus

Etymology

Topics

External links

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Send feedback