Skip to content
ontologydriven
Sign out

Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

greek en · NOUN

Pronunciation

Etymology

Probably from Greek (“unintelligible speech or text”).

Meanings

  1. (alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Greek (“nonsense writing or talk; gibberish”).
    alt of Greek
  2. (alt-of) Alternative letter-case form of Greek (“anal sex”).
    alt of Greek

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
greeks Number=Plur lexicographic

greek en · VERB

Pronunciation

Etymology

Probably from Greek (“unintelligible speech or text”).

Meanings

  1. (transitive) To display a placeholder (instead of text), especially to optimize speed in displaying text that would be too small to read.
    • If text gets smaller than this value, [Adobe] Illustrator shows the text blocks as gray bars, an operation called greeking. Both type size and view size figure into the equation, so that 6-point type greeks at 100-percent view size and 12-point type greeks at 50 percent. Greeking speeds the screen display because gray bars are easier to draw than individual characters. 2002, Deke McClelland, “The Interface”, in Real World Adobe Illustrator 10, Berkeley, Calif.: Peachpit Press, →ISBN, pages 46–47:
    • You can specify the type size below which text will be greeked in the Preferences dialog box. Designers often prefer to use greeked text in rough layouts because it helps the client focus on the design rather than on the words. 1991, Ronnie Shushan, Don Wright, Desktop Publishing by Design, 2nd edition, Redmond, Wash.: Microsoft Press, →OCLC:
  2. (transitive) To fill a template with nonsense text (particularly the Lorem ipsum), so that form can be focused on instead of content.
  3. (transitive) To obscure a corporate logo that has not been permitted for use in a production.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
greeks Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic
greeked Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
greeked Tense=Past lexicographic
greeking Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic

Deriveds

greeking

Relateds

it's all Greek to me