Mycenaean

[ mahy-si-nee-uhn ]

adjective

1. of or relating to the ancient city of Mycenae.
2. denoting or pertaining to the ancient civilization at Mycenae, dating from c2000 to c1100 b.c.

noun

1. Also called Mycenaean Greek. the earliest recorded Greek dialect, written in the Linear B syllabary and dating from the 15th through the 13th centuries b.c.

Mycenaean

/ ˌmaɪsɪˈniːən /

adjective

1. of or relating to ancient Mycenae or its inhabitants
2. of or relating to the Aegean civilization of Mycenae (1400 to 1100 bc )

Other Words From

• pre-My·ce·naean adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Mycenaean¹

First recorded in 1590–1600; Mycenae + -an

Example Sentences

Fischer told The Associated Press that along with Mycenaean pottery, the Cypriot variety was “the most popular on the ‘intercultural’ market” of the time, reaching as far as modern-day Spain, Iraq, Turkey and Sudan.

From Seattle Times

It was built a thousand years before the Mycenaean culture of ancient Greece began to write things down.

From Salon

In what is now Greece, the great cities of the Mycenaean civilization were abandoned or destroyed.

From Washington Post

In the century and a half since Schliemann’s great discoveries, the excavation of other Mycenaean palatial sites — including Tiryns, Gla and Pylos — continued to expand the contemporary understanding of the Bronze Age world.

From New York Times

But during the later Mycenaean period in Greece—the time Homer mythologized—the new data suggest Yamnaya descendants had little impact on Greek social structure.

From Science Magazine