English-Ancient Greek Dictionary

Browse common English words and their Ancient Greek translations, with parts of speech and example sentences. Use this dictionary to look up everyday vocabulary or as a starting point for learning Ancient Greek.

Translate full sentences into Ancient Greek

About Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek was the language of classical Athens, Sparta, and the Hellenistic world. It is the language of Homer's epics, the plays of Sophocles and Euripides, the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, and the New Testament. Ancient Greek had several dialects including Attic, Ionic, Doric, and Aeolic, with Attic becoming the standard literary form. Koine Greek became the lingua franca of the Eastern Mediterranean.

Cultural Note

Ancient Greek uses the Greek alphabet, the first true alphabet to include vowels. Classical pronunciation differs significantly from Modern Greek. Ancient Greek had a pitch accent system and used three grammatical genders.

Browse common Ancient Greek vocabulary

Word	Part of speech	Translation	Example
Pronouns
I	pron.	ἐγώ	I am a student. Ἐγώ μαθητής εἰμι.
you	pron.	σύ	You are wise. Σὺ σοφὸς εἶ.
he	pron.	αὐτός	He is my friend. Αὐτός ἐστιν ὁ ἐμὸς φίλος.
she	pron.	αὐτή	She sings. Αὐτὴ ᾄδει.
we	pron.	ἡμεῖς	We live in Athens. Ἡμεῖς ἐν Ἀθήναις οἰκοῦμεν.
they	pron.	αὐτοί	They work. Αὐτοὶ ἐργάζονται.
Question Words
what	int.	τί	What is this? Τί ἐστι τοῦτο;
where	int.	ποῦ	Where is the agora? Ποῦ ἐστιν ἡ ἀγορά;
when	int.	πότε	When will you come? Πότε ἥξεις;
who	int.	τίς	Who is that? Τίς ἐστιν ἐκεῖνος;
why	int.	διὰ τί	Why are you sad? Διὰ τί λυπῇ;
how	int.	πῶς	How are you? Πῶς ἔχεις;
Verbs
to be	v.	εἶναι	I am happy. Εὐδαίμων εἰμί.
to have	v.	ἔχειν	I have a book. Βιβλίον ἔχω.
to do	v.	ποιεῖν	What are you doing? Τί ποιεῖς;
to go	v.	ἰέναι	I go to school. Εἰς τὴν σχολὴν ἔρχομαι.
to see	v.	ὁρᾶν	I see the sea. Τὴν θάλασσαν ὁρῶ.
to know	v.	γιγνώσκειν	I know the truth. Τὴν ἀλήθειαν γιγνώσκω.
to eat	v.	ἐσθίειν	We eat bread. Ἄρτον ἐσθίομεν.
to drink	v.	πίνειν	I drink water. Ὕδωρ πίνω.
to write	v.	γράφειν	I write a letter. Ἐπιστολὴν γράφω.
to speak	v.	λέγειν	They speak Greek. Ἑλληνιστὶ λέγουσιν.
to love	v.	φιλεῖν	I love wisdom. Τὴν σοφίαν φιλῶ.
Nouns
man	n.	ἄνθρωπος	Man is mortal. Θνητὸς ὁ ἄνθρωπος.
woman	n.	γυνή	The woman reads. Ἡ γυνὴ ἀναγιγνώσκει.
child	n.	παῖς	The child plays. Ὁ παῖς παίζει.
family	n.	οἰκία	The family eats. Ἡ οἰκία ἐσθίει.
mother	n.	μήτηρ	My mother is kind. Ἡ μήτηρ μου χρηστή ἐστιν.
father	n.	πατήρ	My father works. Ὁ πατήρ μου ἐργάζεται.
friend	n.	φίλος	A true friend. Ἀληθὴς φίλος.
house	n.	οἶκος	The house is big. Μέγας ἐστὶν ὁ οἶκος.
city	n.	πόλις	Athens is a great city. Μεγάλη πόλις αἱ Ἀθῆναι.
world	n.	κόσμος	The world is beautiful. Καλός ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος.
time	n.	χρόνος	Time passes. Ὁ χρόνος παραφρεῖ.
day	n.	ἡμέρα	A new day. Νέα ἡμέρα.
night	n.	νύξ	The night is dark. Σκοτεινή ἐστιν ἡ νύξ.
water	n.	ὕδωρ	Water is life. Ὕδωρ ζωή ἐστιν.
bread	n.	ἄρτος	Give us bread. Δὸς ἡμῖν ἄρτον.
book	n.	βιβλίον	This is my book. Τοῦτ' ἐστί μου τὸ βιβλίον.
word	n.	λόγος	The word is true. Ἀληθής ἐστιν ὁ λόγος.
name	n.	ὄνομα	My name is... Ὄνομά μοί ἐστιν...
love	n.	ἀγάπη	Love is strong. Ἰσχυρὰ ἡ ἀγάπη.
life	n.	βίος / ζωή	Life is short. Βραχύς ἐστιν ὁ βίος.
Adjectives
good	adj.	ἀγαθός	Good and beautiful. Ἀγαθὸς καὶ καλός.
bad	adj.	κακός	Bad things happen. Κακὰ γίγνεται.
big	adj.	μέγας	A big city. Μεγάλη πόλις.
small	adj.	μικρός	A small house. Μικρὸς οἶκος.
beautiful	adj.	καλός	Beautiful and good. Καλὸς κἀγαθός.
true	adj.	ἀληθής	That is true. Ἀληθές ἐστι τοῦτο.
Prepositions
with	prep.	σύν / μετά	With my friend. Σὺν τῷ φίλῳ.
from	prep.	ἀπό / ἐκ	From Athens. Ἐξ Ἀθηνῶν.
to	prep.	εἰς / πρός	To the city. Εἰς τὴν πόλιν.
Conjunctions
and	conj.	καί	Bread and wine. Ἄρτος καὶ οἶνος.
or	conj.	ἤ	Life or death. Βίος ἢ θάνατος.
but	conj.	ἀλλά	Not bad but good. Οὐ κακὸς ἀλλ' ἀγαθός.
if	conj.	εἰ	If you come. Εἰ ἔρχῃ.
Interjections
yes	interj.	ναί	Yes, I know. Ναί, οἶδα.
no	interj.	οὔ	No, never. Οὐ, οὐδέποτε.

How It Works

Type an English word above to find its Ancient Greek translation. Each result shows Greek script, romanized pronunciation using the Erasmian system, and example sentences.