koine
/ˈkɔɪneɪ/
noun
- A common language or dialect that develops from the mixing of different regional varieties, used for wider communication.
- A koine often emerges in cities where people from different regions come together.
- Swahili serves as a koine for trade across many East African countries.
- The ancient Greek koine became the common language of the eastern Mediterranean.
- The standardized form of ancient Greek used from about 300 BCE to 300 CE, also called Koine Greek.
- The New Testament was written in Koine, the everyday Greek of its time.
- Scholars study Koine to understand early Christian texts.
- Koine Greek was simpler than the classical Greek of earlier centuries.