Word greece in greek

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The name of Greece differs in Greek compared with the names used for the country in other languages and cultures, just like the names of the Greeks. The ancient and modern name of the country is Hellas or Hellada
(Greek: Ελλάς, Ελλάδα; in polytonic: Ἑλλάς, Ἑλλάδα), and its official name is the Hellenic Republic, Helliniki Dimokratia (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti.a]). In English, however, the country is usually called Greece, which comes from the Latin Graecia (as used by the Romans).

Hellenes[edit]

The civilization and its associated territory and people, which is referred to in English as «Greece», have never referred to themselves in that term. In fact, they have rather referred to themselves as ‘Hellenes’, adopting the traditional appelation of the Hellas region, as in ancient Greek literature it is mentioned as one of the first to be established thereby.

This name, has its origins in the mythological figure of Hellen, the son of Deucalion and Pyrrha, in an origin myth which has parallels to parts of the Book of Genesis. Hellen’s father survived a great flood which Zeus caused to happen in order to wipe out humanity. Hellen himself became the founding father to all Greek tribes, begetting one from each of his sons: Aeolus the Aeolians, Dorus the Dorians, and Xuthus the Achaeans and Ionians through his son Ion.^[1]

Ionians[edit]

Of those, the Ionians largely lived in Anatolia, aka Asia Minor, ergo the most in contact with the Asian world, so their ethnonym became commonly used for all of the Hellenes, to civilizations to east of Greece.

The name Yūnān (Persian: یونان), came through Old Persian during the Achaemenid Empire (550-333 BC). It was derived from the Old Persian Yauna for the Ionian Greeks (Ancient Greek: Ἰάονες, iāones), on the western coast of Asia Minor^[2][3] and were the first Greeks to come into contact with the Persians. The term would eventually be applied to all the Greeks.^[4] Today, words derived from Yūnān can be found in Persian, Turkish, Azerbaijani, Uzbek, Kurdish, Armenian (as Yūnānistan «land of Yūnān»; —istan «land» in Persian), Arabic, Hebrew (Biblical and Modern)(Yavan יָוָן), Aramaic (identical to Hebrew, but in Syriac abjad ܝܘܢ Yaw’n), Indian languages (such as Hindi and Urdu), Pashto, Laz, and Indonesian and Malaysian Malay.

Similarly, ancient China referred to the Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom in Central Asia as Daxia (Tokhara, or Bactria), and the various city-state confederations around the Ferghana Valley as Dayuan, meaning «Great Ionians». Chinese contact was made first by Han Dynasty diplomat Zhang Qian in 139 BC during his mission to seek an anti-Xiongnu alliance with Greater Yuezhi. Zhang’s report of the famous Ferghana horse led to Emperor Wu of Han sending further emissaries seeking trade, though frictions between the envoy and the rulers at Alexandria Eschate led to the War of the Heavenly Horses between the Chinese and the Ferghana confederations, and the eventual Chinese victory led to the establishment of the Protectorate of the Western Regions. The Hellenistic dominance was pushed out of Central Asia and remained further south as the Indo-Greek Kingdom, until eventually replaced by the expansion of Indo-Scythians and the Kushans.

Greeks[edit]

The English name Greece and the similar adaptations in other languages derive from the Latin name Graecia (Greek: Γραικία), literally meaning ‘the land of the Greeks’, which was used by Ancient Romans to denote the area of modern-day Greece. Similarly, the Latin name of the nation was Graeci, which is the origin of the English name Greeks.
Those names, in turn, trace their origin from Graecus, the Latin adaptation of the Greek name Γραικός (pl. Γραικοί), which means ‘Greek’, but its etymology remains uncertain. It is unclear why the Romans called the country Graecia and its people Graeci, but the Greeks called their land Hellas and themselves Hellenes. Several speculations have been made.
William Smith notes in his Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography that foreigners frequently refer to people by a different name (an exonym) from their native one (an endonym).^[5] Aristotle had the first surviving written use the name Graeci (Γραικοί), in his Meteorology. He wrote that the area around Dodona and the Achelous River was inhabited by the Selli and a people, who had been called Graeci but were called Hellenes by his time.^[6]
From that statement, it is asserted that the name of Graeci was once widely used in Epirus and the rest of the western coast of Greece. It thus became the name by which the Hellenes were known to the Italic peoples, who were on the opposite side of the Ionian Sea.^[5]

According to Hesiod, in his Catalogue of Women, Graecus was the son of Pandora and Zeus and gave his name to the people who followed the Hellenic customs. His brother Latinus gave his name to the Latins.^[7] Similarly, the eponymous Hellen is supposed to have given his name to the Greeks, or Hellenes.

In his Ethnica, Stephanus of Byzantium also states that Graecus, the son of Thessalus, was the origin of the name Graeci for the Hellenes.^[8][9]

Romans[edit]

The eastern part of the Roman Empire, which was predominantly Greek-speaking, gave rise to the name Ῥωμανία (Rhomania or Romania). In fact, for a long time that started in Late Antiquity, the Greeks called themselves Ῥωμαῖοι (sg. Ῥωμαῖος: Romans). Those terms or related ones are still sometimes used even in Modern Greek: Ρωμιός (from Ῥωμαῖος), Ρωμιοσύνη.

There was tension with Western Europe on how Roman the western and the eastern parts of the Roman Empire really were. The historian Hieronymus Wolf, after the Eastern Roman Empire had ceased to exist, was the first to call it the Byzantine Empire, the term that later became usual in the West. However, because it lasted almost 1000 years longer than the Western Roman Empire, Persians, Arabs, and Turks, all in the East, used and sometimes still use terms from Rhomania or Rome, such as Rûm, to refer to its land or people.

List of names in other languages[edit]

Hellas-derived names[edit]

The third major form, «Hellas» and its derivatives, is used by a few languages around the world, including Greek itself. In several European languages in which the normal term is derived from Graecia, names derived from Hellas exist as rare or poetic alternatives.

Ionia-derived names[edit]

The second major form, used in many languages and in which the common root is yun or ywn, is borrowed from the Greek name Ionia, the Ionian tribe region of Asia Minor, derived from Old Persian and meant for people with youthful appearances.^[11] In Greek, these forms have never normally been used to denote the whole Greek nation or Greece.

In Sanskrit literature in India, the word यवन yavana is derived from this origin and meant the people with youthful appearances. It was used specifically for Greek people until 250 BCE while Indian kingdoms often traded with Greece. After Alexander’s invasion on western borders of India, the word took a new meaning as foreigner or invader. The word यवन yawan, meaning ‘foreigner,’ is still in use in languages like Hindi, Marathi and Malayalam.

Graecia-derived names[edit]

The first major form of names derives from the Latin Graecus and Graecia or their equivalent forms in Greek whence the former derive themselves. These terms have fallen out of use in Greek.

Georgian name[edit]

The Georgian name for Greece is coined from the Georgian word «wise» brdzeni (Georgian: ბრძენი), thus saberdzneti would literally mean «land of the wise men», possibly referring to the Ancient Greek philosophy.^[12]

• Georgian: საბერძნეთი (Saberdzneti)
• Mingrelian: საბერძემო (Saberdzemo)

Official name of the modern Greek state[edit]

From its establishment after the outbreak of the Greek War of Liberation in 1821, the modern Greek state has used a variety of official names, most often designating changes of regime. Internally, the country was called Hellas, not Greece, even in the cases below where the name was translated internationally as Greece.

• 1821–1828: «Provisional Administration of Greece» (Προσωρινή Διοίκησις τῆς Ἑλλάδος), used by the provisional government before the international recognition of Greek autonomy (and later independence) in the London Protocol.
• 1828–1832: «Hellenic State» (Ἑλληνική Πολιτεία), used under the governorship of Ioannis Kapodistrias. Along with the previous period, it is sometimes grouped together in the historiographic term «First Hellenic Republic».
• 1832–1924: «Kingdom of Greece» (Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος), adopted after Greece was declared a monarchy in the London Conference of 1832, and retained until the abolition of the monarchy on 25 March 1924.
• 1924–1935: «Hellenic Republic» (Ἑλληνική Δημοκρατία), known historiographically as the Second Hellenic Republic, from 1924 until the 10 October 1935 coup by Georgios Kondylis and the restoration of the monarchy.
• 1935–1973: «Kingdom of Greece» (Βασίλειον τῆς Ἑλλάδος), from the restoration of the monarchy in 1935 to its abolition by the Regime of the Colonels junta on 1 June 1973. Between 1941–44 used by the internationally recognized Greek government in exile.
  • 1941–1944: «Hellenic State» (Ἑλληνική Πολιτεία), used by the collaborationist government of Greece during the occupation by the Axis Powers in World War II.
• 1973–today: «Hellenic Republic» (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία), from the abolition of the monarchy by the military junta to the present day. However, the present Third Hellenic Republic is held to have begun in 1974, following the fall of the junta and the return of democratic rule.

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]

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What you are hearing is most likely the correct Greek pronunciation of Elláda (Ελλάδα). This is the modern Greek word for the name of their country, ultimately derived from the Ancient Greek Hellás (Ἑλλάς).

The English name for the country, «Greece», derives from the Latin name «Graecia». Wiktionary gives a fairly full etymology:

From Latin Graecia < Ancient Greek Γραικός (Graikos), a character in Greek mythology, the son of Thessalos, the king of Fthia, from whom Ἑλλάς (Hellas, “Greece”) and Ἕλληνες (Hellenes, “the Greeks”) got their names.

Although this entry explains the etymology of the name «Greece», it is admittedly slightly confusing about the etymology of «Hellas». This page gives a hypothetical etymology:

Etymology: From Ancient Greek (Hellas
«Greece»), from prefix — (el-ελ «sun,
bright, shiny», (elios, «sun»)) +
(las-λας «rock, stone»). : «The land of
the sun and the rock».

I would not however want to comment on the veracity of this source. All that is known for sure is that Hellas originally referred to a small area within Ancient Greece and only later came to refer to all Greece. This Yahoo answer gives some handy details.

What is Greece called in Greece?

The ancient and modern name of the country is Hellas or Hellada (Greek: Ελλάς, Ελλάδα; in polytonic: Ἑλλάς, Ἑλλάδα), and its official name is the Hellenic Republic, Helliniki Dimokratia (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία [eliniˈci ðimokraˈti. a]).

Why is Greece not called Hellas?

The ancient and modern name of the country is Hellas or Hellada, and its official name is the Hellenic Republic, “Helliniki Dimokratia”. In English, however, the country is usually called Greece, which comes from the Latin Graecia (as used by the Romans) and literally means ‘the land of the Greeks’.

Why is Greece called ellada?

These ancient Greek tribes conquered ancient Thessaly, and other Greek cities, and the people of these conquered areas came to be known as “Hellenes”, and their territory, “Hellas” (Ellas-Ἑλλάς).

What is the official name of Greek?

the Hellenic Republic Hellenic Republic Ελληνική Δημοκρατία (Greek) Ellinikí Dimokratía Official language and national language Greek.

How other countries call Greece?

Even today, the country is known abroad as Greece, while the Greeks call themselves “Ellines” and their country Ellada, or Hellas in English. The official name of the country is The Hellenic Republic as it is written on Greek passports; however one’s ethnicity on the same documents is described as “Greek.”Jun 27, 2017.

What does Hellas mean in English?

Hellas. / (ˈhɛləs) / noun. transliteration of the Ancient Greek name for Greece.

What is the difference between Greek and Hellenic?

It may surprise you that Greeks don’t call themselves “Greek”. Instead Greeks refer to themselves as “Έλληνες”— Hellenes. In English, however, both “Greek” and “Hellenic” are used. When most English speakers say “Greek” today, they mean the people and culture associated with the modern nation-state of Greece.

What does Hellenic mean Greece?

Hellenic is a synonym for Greek. It means either: of or pertaining to the Hellenic Republic (modern Greece) or Greek people (Hellenes, Greek: Έλληνες) and culture. of or pertaining to ancient Greece, ancient Greek people, culture and civilization.

When did Greece become Greece?

German occupation of Greece in the second world war ended in 1944, but a violent and complicated civil war at once broke out between (broadly) communists and western-backed government forces (1944-49), resulting in a Greek government inclined to the west, but with significant anti-western sentiment still in force.

What was Greece called in biblical times?

The related Hebrew name, Yavan or Javan (יָוָן), was used to refer to the Greek nation in the Eastern Mediterranean in early Biblical times.

Is Greece the same thing as Greek?

The name of Greece differs in Greek compared with the names used for the country in other languages and cultures, just like the names of the Greeks. In English, however, the country is usually called Greece, which comes from the Latin Graecia (as used by the Romans) and literally means ‘the land of the Greeks’.

Is Greece on the amber list?

Greece remains on the UK government’s “amber” list of countries as travel restrictions continue to ease. Ancient monuments, delicious food and around 200 (populated) islands to explore mean that Greece has long been a firm favourite with British holidaymakers.

Do they speak English in Greece?

Although the official language in Greece and Athens is Greek, English is also widely spoken, so you shouldn’t experience any problems when visiting the city. English is very widely spoken in Greece, especially in the most touristy parts of the city.

Who rules Greece?

President of Greece President of the Hellenic Republic Incumbent Katerina Sakellaropoulou since 13 March 2020 Style Her Excellency Residence Presidential Mansion, Athens Nominator Prime Minister.

Is Greece a Latin country?

Greek is not a Latin language. It is one of the Indo-European languages.

What was Greece before Greece?

There was never one country called ‘ancient Greece’. Instead, Greece was divided up into small city-states, like Athens, Sparta, Corinth and Olympia. Each city-state ruled itself. They had their own governments, laws and army.

Is it Ellas or Hellas?

Hellas, or Ellas, is the original name for Greece. The word Greece is not a Greek word. The ancient and modern name of the country is Hellas or Hellada (Greek: Ελλάς, Ελλάδα; in polytonic: Ἑλλάς, Ἑλλάδα), and its official name is the Hellenic Republic “Heliniki Dimokratia”.

Is the H silent in ancient Greek?

Attic Greek had only two fricative phonemes: the voiceless alveolar sibilant /s/ and the glottal fricative /h/. Attic generally kept it, but some non-Attic dialects during the Classical period lost it (see below).

What ellada means?

Greek, Hellenic, Hellenic language – the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages. pean, paean – (ancient Greece) a hymn of praise (especially one sung in ancient Greece to invoke or thank a deity).

What is a hellish?

adjective. of, like, or suitable to hell; infernal; vile; horrible: It was a hellish war. miserable; abominable; execrable: We had a hellish time getting through traffic. devilishly bad: The child’s behavior was hellish most of the day.

Is Greece still a country?

Greece is a country that is at once European, Balkan, Mediterranean, and Near Eastern. It lies at the juncture of Europe, Asia, and Africa and is heir to the heritages of Classical Greece, the Byzantine Empire, and nearly four centuries of Ottoman Turkish rule.

How many is hella?

The Official Petition to Establish ‘Hella-‘ as the SI Prefix for 10^27 has over 22,000 members calling for the International System of Units, or the “SI” for “Systeme Internacional”, to officially designate “hella-” as the prefix for 10^27, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000.

What’s the difference between Hellenic and Hellenistic Greece?

Hellenic (Greek) refers to the people who lived in classical Greece before Alexander the Great’s death. Hellenistic (Greek-like) refers to Greeks and others who lived during the period after Alexander’s conquests.

What Hellenism means?

Wiktionary. Hellenismnoun. Any of the characteristics of ancient Greek culture, civilization, principles and ideals, including humanism, reason, the pursuit of knowledge and the arts, moderation and civic responsibility.

What is the Hellenism symbol?

The dodecagram, or twelve pointed star, is one of the more widespread symbols of Hellenismos. The twelve points represent the twelve Olympic Gods and thus the symbol serves its purpose as a dedicational symbol well. Another version of this symbol is the Star of Vergina, a symbol with sixteen points.

Why is it called Hellenism?

The word Hellenistic comes from the root word Hellas, which was the ancient Greek word for Greece. The Hellenic Age was the time when Greek culture was pure and unaffected by other cultures. One man, Alexander, King of Macedonia, a Greek-speaker, is responsible for this blending of cultures.