Saints

CRITICAL, and structurally tighter than in any other language in this pipeline: Greek uses the exact same word, ἅγιος/άγιος, for both the ordinary adjective ‘holy’ and the specific title ‘Saint’ (Άγιος Παύλος, ‘Saint Paul’; Αγία Αικατερίνη, ‘Saint Catherine’). Greek culture celebrates ονομαστική εορτή (name days) tied to a person’s patron saint, a bigger cultural event than birthdays in Greece and Cyprus. Romans 1:7 calls every believer κλητοῖς ἁγίοις; there is no lexical way to avoid using the identical word Modern Greek uses for canonized, venerated saints, which makes the accompanying explanatory note not optional stylistic guidance but the only available disambiguation tool.