Hellenistic: Meaning and Definition of

Hel•len•is•tic

1. pertaining to Hellenists.
2. following or resembling Greek usage.
3. of or pertaining to the Greeks or their language, culture, etc., after the time of Alexander the Great, when Greek characteristics were modified by foreign elements. Cf. Hellenic (def. 1).
4. of or pertaining to the architecture of Greece and Greek territories from the late 3rd century through the 1st century b.c., characterized by deviations of various sorts from the proportions and arrangements of the mature Greek orders, particularly in the attenuation of the Doric order, and by innovations in plan and ornamentation.
5. pertaining to or designating the style of the fine arts, esp. sculpture, developed in the area conquered by Alexander the Great from the end of the 4th to the 1st century b.c., chiefly characterized by delicate and highly finished modeling, dramatic, often violent movement of forms in space, representations of extreme emotion, highly individuated characterization, and a wide variety of subject matter. Cf. archaic (def. 4),(def. 6).