GRE
Abbreviation with 3 meanings
| Stands for | Graduate Record Examinations |
|---|---|
| Meanings | 3 |
| Categories | Education & Academia, Geography & Places, Technology & Computing |
GRE has three meanings. The most common are Graduate Record Examinations (standardized test) and Greece (country code); it can also stand for Generic Routing Encapsulation.
Meanings of GRE at a glance
| # | GRE stands for | Context |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Graduate Record Examinations | Education & Academia › Standardized Test |
| 2 | Greece | Geography & Places › Country Code |
| 3 | Generic Routing Encapsulation | Technology & Computing › Networking |
1. Graduate Record Examinations
Education & Academia · Standardized Test Abbreviations
Graduate admissions test from ETS accepted by thousands of master's and doctoral programs and by many business and law schools. The General Test has Verbal Reasoning and Quantitative Reasoning sections scored from 130 to 170 and Analytical Writing scored from 0 to 6; since September 2023 it takes just under two hours.
Example: Most applicants admitted to the program scored above 160 on GRE Quantitative.
The 2023 redesign roughly halved the test by removing the "Analyze an Argument" essay and the unscored experimental section. Scores remain valid for five years. ETS also offers GRE Subject Tests, now only in mathematics, physics and psychology. Many PhD programs dropped GRE requirements after 2020, especially in the humanities and life sciences.
2. Greece
Geography & Places · Country Code Abbreviations
Greece is GRE in IOC and FIFA usage, while ISO uses GRC. At every Olympic opening ceremony Greece leads the parade of nations in honor of the ancient Games.
Example: GRE stunned the hosts to win Euro 2004 in Lisbon.
Greece's Euro 2004 victory, as a 150-to-1 outsider, is one of football's great upsets. Athens hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896.
3. Generic Routing Encapsulation
Technology & Computing · Networking Abbreviations
A simple tunneling protocol that wraps one network packet inside another, letting routers carry traffic such as multicast or non-IP protocols across an IP network. GRE adds no encryption, so it is often combined with IPsec.
Example: Build a GRE tunnel between the two routers so OSPF can run across the internet link.
Developed by Cisco and published in RFC 1701 in 1994, later simplified in RFC 2784. GRE is IP protocol number 47, not a TCP or UDP port, which matters when writing firewall rules. DDoS-mitigation services often return cleaned traffic to customers over GRE tunnels. Not related to the GRE graduate admissions test.
Related abbreviations
More standardized test abbreviations
- GATE – Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering
- GCSE – General Certificate of Secondary Education
- GED – General Educational Development
- GMAT – Graduate Management Admission Test
- HESI A2 – Health Education Systems Incorporated Admission Assessment
- HiSET – High School Equivalency Test
- HSC – Higher School Certificate
- HSK – Hanyu Shuiping Kaoshi (Chinese Proficiency Test)
See all 106 standardized test abbreviations →