polis

¹

[ poh-lis ]

noun

, plural po·leis [poh, -lahys].

1. an ancient Greek city-state.

-polis

²

1. a combining form, meaning “city,” appearing in loanwords from Greek ( metropolis ), and used in the formation of placenames ( Annapolis ).

polis

¹

/ ˈpɒlɪs /

noun

1. an ancient Greek city-state

polis

²

/ ˈpolɪs /

noun

1. the police or a police officer

Word History and Origins

Origin of polis¹

1890–95; < Greek pólis, plural (Ionic) póleis

Origin of polis²

Combining form representing Greek pólis polis

Word History and Origins

Origin of polis¹

from Greek: city

Origin of polis²

C19: a variant pronunciation of police

Example Sentences

Essentially, manpower was never a significant problem for the Macedonian kings, with the kingdom’s burgeoning population spread across numerous villages, as opposed to being concentrated in urban centers or poleis.

From Realm of History

She also pointed to a range of other philanthropy Polis was involved in, from founding charter schools, which she noted were not named after him, to distributing computers to organizations in need.

From ProPublica

Polis and state health officials are expected to address the public Wednesday.

From Fortune

In a now famous clip, Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO) was asked what percentage of Congress smokes.

From The Daily Beast

One case which did garner some mainstream media attention was that of Chrissy Lee Polis.

From The Daily Beast

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis is another Democrat frustrated by the highly visible and political failure of the civil unions bill.

From The Daily Beast

His father coined the word “poliatrist”, meaning a healer of the polis or city.

From The Daily Beast

Frank is retiring, Baldwin is running for the Senate, and Polis and Ciciline are up for reelection.

From The Daily Beast

It would have gone hard with them as they left the cage, but someone whispered, "Here's the polis!"

From Project Gutenberg

Wan day a captain an' a squad iv polis backed th' wagon up to th' dure iv th' palace an' rung th' bell.

From Project Gutenberg

I 've a bit of paper for you somewhere, from one you know, if them blackguards the 'polis' has not made me lose it.

From Project Gutenberg

The constitution of the polis is a Phœnician invention, even this has been imitated by the Hellenes.

From Project Gutenberg

The Greek polis and the αἱεν ἁριστεὑειν grew up out of mutual enmity.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• capital
• center
• downtown
• metropolis
• municipality
• place
• port