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Greece residents split on financial referendum vote
01:46 - Source: CNN
CNN  — 

Banks were closed in Greece all week and people have been protesting in the streets ahead of a referendum Sunday on whether to accept more austerity to get a bailout deal from the European Union.

A “no” vote could be the beginning of the Grexit, a Greek exit from the Eurozone, which includes 19 countries that use the Euro as currency.

But Greece will have a lasting place in the language of Europe – including the word “Europe.”

In Greek mythology, Europa was a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus and taken to the island of Crete.

Another linguistic theory on Europe says it may be a combination of the Greek works “eurys,” which means broad and the word “ops” which means face. In either case, they belong to the Greek language.

If only Greece could pay back its debt in words. Here are five other Greek words Europe can’t do without.

Democracy

As the cradle of Western civilization, Greece pretty much holds the linguistic mother lode of words needed to run a free country. All 28 countries that make up the European Union must be democracies, which comes from the Greek words demos (common people ) and kratos, which means strength or power, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Politics

Politics is the science and art of governing citizens, according to Merriam-Webster. While there is a European Parliament and a European Commission, it has little power over the affairs in individual member countries, which govern with a wide array of their own political parties. There are parties for communists, socialists, environmentalists, conservatives, ultraconservatives and for those who only want to advocate for regional issues.

The Greek word polis means “city” or “community,” hence the words metropolis and police also originated in Greece.

It was the Greek philosopher Aristotle who first wrote about politics.

Ethics

Ethics is a branch of philosophy dealing with what is morally right or wrong, according to Merriam-Webster. The word has its origins in the Greek work ethos. All the big philosophers – Plato, Socrates and Aristotle – thought a lot about what is good and bad behavior.

Without good ethics, there’s room for corruption. European countries are perceived to be among the least corrupt in the world, according to transparency.org. The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany made it into the top 20 last year. Greece, however, ranked 69th in the world in perception of corruption.

Phobia

An illogical or inexplicable fear of an object or a situation is a phobia and of course it comes from the Greek word for fear, which is phobos.

There is plenty of fear over what will happen next in this Greek financial drama. Economists are having a field day debating what would be best for the markets or the Greek people or both.

Nobel Prize winners Paul Krugman and Joseph Stiglitz say Greece should vote “no,” whiIe over 200 Greek economics professors say a “Grexit” would be a disaster.

Plethora

Merriam-Webster defines plethora as an amount that is much greater than what is necessary. The original Greek word means fullness. The Eurozone is full of countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands with strong and prosperous economies that give the Euro its strength. But the prosperity isn’t shared throughout the Eurozone. Spain, Portugal and certainly Greece have seen their median household income drop since 2010, according to numbers from the EU.

Greek crisis in memes: ‘Grease,’ bounced checks and, of course, cats