KOINE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does Koine mean? 

• KOINE (noun)
  The noun KOINE has 2 senses:

1. a Greek dialect that flourished under the Roman Empire

2. a common language used by speakers of different languages

  Familiarity information: KOINE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• KOINE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A Greek dialect that flourished under the Roman Empire

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

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

Greek; Hellenic; Hellenic language (the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A common language used by speakers of different languages

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

interlanguage; koine; lingua franca

Context example:

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

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

language; linguistic communication (a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols)