n. 1. A dialect of Greek that developed primarily from Attic and became the common language of the Hellenistic world, from which later stages of Greek are descended. 2. koine A lingua franca. 3. koine A regional dialect or language that becomes the standard language over a wider area, losing its most extreme local features. [From Greek (hē) koinē (dialektos), common (language), feminine of koinos, common; see kom in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] |
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