Katharevousa

• katharevousa

From Greek καθαρεύουσα (katharévousa), feminine of καθαρεύων (katharévon), present participle of Ancient Greek καθαρεύω (kathareúō, “to be clean, pure”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌkaθəˈɹɛvuːsə/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑθəˈɹɛvusɑ/, /ˌkɑθəˈɹɛvəsɑ/
• Hyphenation: Ka‧tha‧re‧vou‧sa

Katharevousa

1. 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).

• Katharevousa Greek, katharevousa Greek

• Modern Greek

• Category of Katharevousa words