Koine

Koi·ne  (koi-n, koin)

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.

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[From Greek (h) koin (dialektos), common (language), feminine of koinos, common; see kom in Indo-European roots.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Koine - a Greek dialect that flourished under the Roman Empire Greek, Hellenic, Hellenic language - the Hellenic branch of the Indo-European family of languages
	2.	koine - a common language used by speakers of different languages; "Koine is a dialect of ancient Greek that was the lingua franca of the empire of Alexander the Great and was widely spoken throughout the eastern Mediterranean area in Roman times" interlanguage, lingua franca language, linguistic communication - a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols; "he taught foreign languages"; "the language introduced is standard throughout the text"; "the speed with which a program can be executed depends on the language in which it is written"