Did you know that there are more than 150.000 words of Greek origin used in the English language? Most of them come straight from ancient Greek and from enlightened Greek people of ancient times.
Let’s have a closer look:
democracy
As the idea of democracy was born in Greece, it should be the first reference that seems fair to share. Democracy is a combination of the word demos (δήμος) which means people, and kratos (κράτος) meaning power. Like most ancient Greek words, its etymology directly connects to its meaning. Democracy means people with power.
planet
It totally makes sense if you think that most planets have ancient Greek names. Coming from the Greek verb planomai (πλανώμαι), its meaning is “to wander.” Ancient Greeks had a different perception of the world, many times connecting astronomy with religion and myths. For them, planets were simply wandering stars in the universe.
melancholy
Pronounced almost the same in English and Greek. It comes from the words melas (μέλας) meaning “black” and khole (χολή) meaning bile. Ancient Greeks were convinced that if your spleen produces a certain amount of black bile you are starting to feel moody.
music
‘Mousike’ (μουσική) in modern Greek. This word that we love to use and talk about actually means “that art of the Muses.” The 9 Muses were goddesses, daughters of Zeus (who else?!) and they were the protectors and inspirations for all arts and sciences.
PS: the word museum also comes from ancient Greek (μουσείο) meaning “the seat of the Muses.”
galaxy
The word ‘galaxias’ (γαλαξίας) used to mean cycle (κύκλος) in ancient Greek. However, the root of the word means milk. Now you are wondering why does the name we use for our solar system come from the Greek word for milk (Milky Way). According to mythology, when the son of Zeus (yes, Zeus again!), Hercules, was born by a mortal woman, Zeus placed the baby on Hera’s breast so that he could breastfeed her divine milk. When Hera woke up to find an unknown baby breastfeeding her, she spilled a lot of the milk around hence creating the shape of the galaxy.
Just a small taste of the thousands of words that are used in English and derive directly from ancient Greek.
This means that you actually speak Greek even if you don’t know it.