Library / English Dictionary

GRECIAN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A native or resident of Greece

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("Grecian" is a kind of...):

European (a native or inhabitant of Europe)

Holonyms ("Grecian" is a member of...):

Ellas; Greece; Hellenic Republic (a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of Greece or the Greeks or the Greek language

Example:

a Grecian robe

Synonyms:

Grecian; Greek; Hellenic

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Pertainym:

Greece (a republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan peninsula; known for grapes and olives and olive oil)

Derivation:

Greek (a native or inhabitant of Greece)

Credits

 Context examples: 

She had depended on a twilight walk to the Grecian temple, and perhaps all over the grounds, and an evening merely cold or damp would not have deterred her from it; but a heavy and settled rain even SHE could not fancy dry or pleasant weather for walking.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

Recall the august yet harmonious lineaments, the Grecian neck and bust; let the round and dazzling arm be visible, and the delicate hand; omit neither diamond ring nor gold bracelet; portray faithfully the attire, aerial lace and glistening satin, graceful scarf and golden rose; call it 'Blanche, an accomplished lady of rank.'

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“Well then, it was Monday night—only two days ago, you understand—that all this happened. I am an interpreter, as perhaps my neighbour there has told you. I interpret all languages—or nearly all—but as I am a Greek by birth and with a Grecian name, it is with that particular tongue that I am principally associated. For many years I have been the chief Greek interpreter in London, and my name is very well known in the hotels.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Holmes, however, is, I fancy, of a different way of thinking, and holds to this day that, if one could find the Grecian girl, one might learn how the wrongs of herself and her brother came to be avenged.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)