Athens

[ath-inz]

noun

1. Greek Athenai. a city in and the capital of Greece, in the southeastern part.

2. Greater Athens, a metropolitan area comprising the city of Athens, Piraeus, and several residential suburbs.

3. a city in northern Georgia.

4. a city in southern Ohio.

5. a town in northern Alabama.

6. a town in southern Tennessee.

7. a town in eastern Texas.

8. any city that is compared to Athens, especially as a cultural center.

   the Athens of the Midwest.

Athens

/ ˈæθɪnz /

noun

1. Greek name: Athinai.  Athina. the capital of Greece, in the southeast near the Saronic Gulf: became capital after independence in 1834; ancient city-state, most powerful in the 5th century _bc ; contains the hill citadel of the Acropolis. Pop: 3 238 000 (2005 est)

Athens

¹

1. Capital of Greece in east-central Greece on the plain of Attica, overlooking an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. Named after its patron goddess, Athena, Athens is Greece's largest city and its cultural, administrative, and economic center.

Athens

²

1. A leading city of ancient Greece, famous for its learning, culture, and democratic institutions. The political power of Athens was sometimes quite limited, however, especially after its defeat by Sparta in the Peloponnesian War. Pericles was a noted ruler of Athens. (See also under “World Geography.”)

As the cultural center of Greece, ancient Athens was home to influential writers and thinkers such as Aristophanes, Euripides, Socrates, and Plato.

Its principal landmark is the Acropolis, on which stands the remains of the Parthenon and other buildings.

In the fifth century b.c., Athens was one of the world's most powerful and highly civilized cities (see also under “World History to 1550”).

Example Sentences

Officers on Wednesday carried out 37 arrests in the greater Athens area, Thessaloniki, the island of Crete and other areas.

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Every hour on the hour, day and night, Greek soldiers change the guard in front of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Athens.

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Metlen employs nearly 10,000 people in 40 countries and moved its primary listing from Athens to London in August this year.

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Coca-Cola HBC said it plans to pursue a secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, adding to its existing listings in London and Athens.

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The author begins his survey in 432 B.C., with Sparta and Athens on the cusp of the Peloponnesian War.

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