| marathonThe long race is named for a plain in Attica. | Marathon | From the place | Well attested |
| currantThe baking fruit is a worn-down word for Corinth. | Corinth | From its product | Well attested |
| magnetThe lodestone is named for Magnesia. | Magnesia | From the place | Well attested |
| academyEvery academy is named for a grove outside Athens. | Akademeia | From the place | Well attested |
| laconicA tight-lipped style is named for Sparta’s region. | Sparta | From its people | Well attested |
| OlympicThe games are named for a sanctuary, not for Mount Olympus. | Olympia | From the place | Well attested |
| atticThe room under the roof is named for the region around Athens. | Attica | Historical name | Well attested |
| BoeotianAn insult preserved from one Greek region's rivalry with another. | Boeotia | From its people | Well attested |
| cosOne lettuce is named for a Greek island and the other for Rome. | Kos | From the place | Well attested |
| lesbianThe word comes from a Greek island in the Aegean. | Lesbos | From the place | Well attested |
| manganeseThe metal is a scrambled form of Magnesia, like magnesium and magnet. | Magnesia | Historical name | Well attested |
| quinceThe fruit is named for a city in Crete. | Chania | Historical name | Well attested |
| malmseyThe sweet wine is a worn-down Greek fortress town. | Monemvasia | Historical name | Well attested |
| ParnassusPoetry itself is a Greek mountain. | Mount Parnassus | From the place | Well attested |
| Attic saltWit itself is measured in Athenian units. | Attica | From its people | Well attested |
| Corinthian helmetThe classic Greek helmet is named for one city. | Corinth | From the place | Well attested |
| Eleusinian MysteriesAntiquity's most famous secret is named for a town near Athens. | Eleusis | From the place | Well attested |
| Greek yogurtStrained yogurt is named for one country among many that make it. | Greece | From its people | Well attested |
| Pierian springInspiration is a spring in northern Greece. | Pieria | From the place | Well attested |
| bring owls to AthensAthens' own silver coins were stamped with the owl nobody needed more of. | Athens | From the place | Well attested |
| cos lettuceOne lettuce, named for a Greek island in Britain and for Rome in America. | Kos | From the place | Probable |
| -athonEvery telethon and hackathon is a misreading of a Greek battlefield. | Marathon | Indirect | Well attested |
| Calydonian BoarThe whole disaster started with a farmer forgetting one goddess at harvest time. | Calydon | From the place | Well attested |
| Calydonian HuntIt was the standard roll call of Greek heroes long before anyone wrote the myth down in full. | Calydon | From the place | Well attested |
| Greek saladIn Greece nobody calls it Greek. | Greece | From the place | Well attested |
| magnesiumOne ancient Greek district gave English magnesium, manganese and magnet. | Magnesia Regional Unit | Indirect | Probable |
| malvoisieThe wine is named for a fortified rock reached by a single causeway. | Monemvasia | From its product | Well attested |
| melocotonBuried in the word is a Cretan city that also gave English the quince. | Kydonia | Indirect | Probable |
| ParnassianA limestone mountain above Delphi became the postal address of poetry itself. | Mount Parnassus | From the place | Well attested |