Romaicn.adj.

Etymology: < modern Greek ρωμαίικος (adjective) Greek (see note below) < Ρωμαίος (formerly Ῥωμαῖος ; Hellenistic Greek Ῥωμαῖος ) Roman, in later (post-classical) use also citizen of the Byzantine Empire, (hence) Greek ( < ancient Greek Ῥώμη Rome n. + -αῖος , suffix forming adjectives and nouns) + -ικος , suffix forming adjectives (see below). With the use as noun compare modern Greek τα ρωμαίικα (neuter plural noun), denoting the demotic (see demotic adj. 1b) variety of the modern Greek language, as opposed to the purist katharevousa (see katharevousa n.). Compare earlier Romaika adj. With Romaic dance n. compare earlier Romaika n.After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Greeks of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, who belonged to the Orthodox faith, regarded themselves as the rightful heirs of the Romans (compare the Latin and Greek names of Constantinople cited at Rome n.). Hence, they used Hellenistic Greek Ῥωμαῖος as self-designation, in contrast to Ἕλλην Hellene n., which came to be applied to pagan (pre-Christian) Greeks only, whereas Ῥωμαῖος and its medieval Greek variant Ῥωμιός came to denote an Orthodox Christian, Greek-speaking citizen of the Byzantine Empire, and eventually (during the period of Turkish rule in Greece, after the end of the Byzantine Empire) a Greek person in general. In the period leading up to the restoration of Greek independence in 1832, conscious attempts were made to reclaim the ancient Greek heritage, and so the use of Ἕλλην was extended to denote the modern as well as the ancient Greeks. The two terms thus came to coexist, but at least in pre-20th-cent. modern Greek texts a connotational distinction was often made between Ἕλλην and Ῥωμαῖος (and its variant Ῥωμιός ): the former tended to denote an idealized concept of a Greek person, the latter a ‘real-life’ Greek. These semantic developments have a parallel in the derivative ρωμαίικος (which is not a reflex of Hellenistic Greek Ῥωμαϊκός , for which see below); compare also the parallel distinction with reference to language (see above). See further P. Mackridge Language & National Identity in Greece, 1766–1976 (2009). The modern Greek word was also borrowed into other European languages. Compare e.g. Italian romaico (a1729 (in form †romeco ) as adjective, a1869 as noun), French romaïque (1823 as noun, 1832 as adjective). Compare modern Greek ρωμαϊκός of or belonging to ancient Rome (Hellenistic Greek Ῥωμαϊκός Roman, (of language) Latin, in Byzantine Greek also (of language) Greek; 4th cent.; < ancient Greek Ῥώμη Rome n. + -ικός -ic suffix). (The modern Greek colloquial suffix -ικος is ultimately the reflex of ancient Greek -ικός -ic suffix, but unlike the latter is always unstressed; it has been suggested that this shift of stress may be due to the influence of classical Latin -icus -ic suffix.)