Link Centre Dictionary

Koine

UK/ˈkɔɪneɪ/ US/ˈkɔɪniː/ uncommon

noun

1.

a Greek dialect that flourished under the Roman Empire

2.

a common language used by speakers of different languages

  • “Koine is a dialect of ancient Greek that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean area in Roman times”
Synonyms

Origin

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Κοινή (Koinḗ), from ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος (hē koinḕ diálektos, “the common dialect”), from κοινός (koinós, “shared, common, public, general, ordinary, usual”). Doublet of koinon.

Related words

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.