pólis
Erscheinungsbild
From Proto-Hellenic *ptólis, from Proto-Indo-European *tpólHis, from *tpelH- (“fortification, city”). The early form πτόλις (ptólis) shows metathesis tp > pt because Ancient Greek stop clusters always end in a coronal. Cognate with Sanskrit पुर (pura, “fortress, city, dwelling”) and Lithuanian pilis (“stronghold”). Irregular accent on genitive πόλεως (póleōs) is due to a quantitative metathesis from older πόληος (pólēos); genitive plural imitates genitive singular.
Pronunciation
Noun
πόλις • (pólis) f (genitive πόλεως); third declension
- city [ quotations ▼]
- the Athenian citadel [ quotations ▼]
- one's city or country [ quotations ▼]
- (ὁ ἐπὶ τῆς πόλεως (ho epì tês póleōs)) city governor, praetor urbanus [ quotations ▼]
- a whole country, as dependent on and called after its city: city state [ quotations ▼]
- community [ quotations ▼]
- the state [ quotations ▼]
- the right of citizenship [ quotations ▼]
- (πόλιν παίζειν (pólin paízein)) a type of board game [ quotations ▼]