 The Greek term in early antiquity (Homeric Greek) could refer to any large group, a "host" of men, a "band" of comrades as well as a "swarm" or "flock" of animals.In Classical Greek, the term took on a meaning comparable to the concept now expressed by "ethnic group", mostly translated as "nation, people"; only in Hellenistic Greek did the term tend to become further narrowed to refer to "foreign" or "barbarous" nations in particular (whence the later meaning "heathen, pagan").In the 19th century, the term came to be used in the sense of "peculiar to a race, people or nation", in a return to the original Greek meaning.