Meaning of Katharevousa | Babel Free

Definitions

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.

Equivalents

Examples

“‘You read the poetry of Cavafy, I have taught you to speak Katharevousa and Italian.’”

“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).”

CEFR level