English words of Greek origin

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Until the 16th century, the few Greek words that were absorbed into English came through their Latin derivations. Most of the early borrowings are for expressions in theology for which there were no English equivalents. In the late 16th century an influx of Greek words were derived directly, in intellectual fields and the new science. This is a list of some English language words of Greek language origin. Greek words make up some 10% of the English language, so this list is necessarily incomplete.

It is useful to know which words are of Greek origin, since it gives a guide to likely spelling, pronunciation and inflection. Although all three tend to become regularised as words become more commonly used, it will often be true of a Greek derived word that, for example:

  • ch is pronounced like k rather than as in "church" (e.g. character)
  • in words beginning ps-, the p is silent
  • r- at the beginning of a word may be followed by a silent h (e.g. rhododendron)
  • the sound normally rendered by f may be rendered by ph instead (e.g. telephone)
  • at the beginning of a word, the sound normally rendered by z may be rendered by x instead (e.g. xenophobia)
  • consecutive vowels are often pronounced separately rather than forming a diphthong or one of them becoming silent (e.g. hierarchy, contrast priest)
  • the plural of a word ending in -on is formed by replacing -on by -a (e.g. phenomenon, phenomena)
  • the plural of a word ending in -us is NOT formed by replacing -us by -i; such words are usually regularised (e.g. crocus, crocuses)

Not all these rules correspond to usage in either modern or ancient Greek - they are consistencies in the way in which Greek words have been incorporated into English.

See also:

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