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Katharevousa. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
Katharevousa, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
Katharevousa in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
Katharevousa you have here. The definition of the word
Katharevousa will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
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English
Etymology
From Greek καθαρεύουσα (katharévousa), feminine of καθαρεύων (katharévon), present participle of Ancient Greek καθαρεύω (kathareúō, “to be clean, pure”).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˌkaθəˈɹɛvuːsə/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˌkɑθəˈɹɛvusɑ/, /ˌkɑθəˈɹɛvəsɑ/
- Hyphenation: Ka‧tha‧re‧vou‧sa
Proper noun
Katharevousa
- A learned, archaising form of Modern Greek, based on Classical Greek and used for formal and official purposes; it was legally displaced as the official language of Greece in 1976 by Demotic Greek.
- Coordinate terms: Classical Greek, Demotic Greek, Ancient Greek, Koine, purist Greek
1994, Louis de Bernières, Captain Corelli's Mandolin, Minerva, published 1995, page 87:‘You read the poetry of Cavafy, I have taught you to speak Katharevousa and Italian.’
2019, Roderick Beaton, Greece: Biography of a Modern Nation, Penguin, published 2020, page 345:A year later, after much deliberation and public discussion, an act of parliament established that demotic Greek was to replace the hybrid katharevousa as the official language of education – and therefore, in practice, in most walks of life (exceptions are the Church and law).
Synonyms
Holonyms
Translations
purist variant of Modern Greek
See also