Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
noun
- (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.
- a lingua franca.
noun
- a common language among speakers of different languages; lingua franca
noun
- the Koine (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
common literary dialect of Greek in Roman and early medieval period, 1903, from feminine singular of Greek koinos “common, ordinary” (see coeno-). Used earlier as a Greek word in English.