koine
Americannoun
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(usually initial capital letter) an amalgam of Greek dialects, chiefly Attic and Ionic, that replaced the Classical Greek dialects in the Hellenistic period and flourished under the Roman Empire.
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a lingua franca.
noun
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(sometimes not capital) the Ancient Greek dialect that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely used throughout the E Mediterranean area in Roman times
noun
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a common language among speakers of different languages; lingua franca
Etymology
Origin of koine
1910–15; < Greek koinḗ ( diálektos ) common (dialect); ceno- 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The word koine came from the Greek word for “common.”
From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2012
Others were third-rate and knew only the koine kais, which have as much meaning as our colloquial ands.
From Time Magazine Archive
He calls this degree /stata forma/,—a rational, mediocre sort of beauty, which is not liable to be either /koine/ or /poine/.
From My Novel — Volume 04 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
He calls this degree stata forma,—a rational, mediocre sort of beauty, which is not liable to be either koine or poine.
From My Novel — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.