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definitions

Athens

[ath-inz]
noun
  1. Greek Athenai. a city in and the capital of Greece, in the SE part.
  2. Greater, a metropolitan area comprising the city of Athens, Piraeus, and several residential suburbs.
  3. a city in N Georgia.
  4. a city in S Ohio.
  5. a town in N Alabama.
  6. a town in S Tennessee.
  7. a town in E Texas.
  8. any city that is compared to Athens, especially as a cultural center: the Athens of the Midwest.

Greece

[grees]
noun
  1. Ancient Greek Hellas. Modern Greek Ellas. a republic in S Europe at the S end of the Balkan Peninsula. 50,147 sq. mi. (129,880 sq. km). Capital: Athens.
  2. a city in W New York.
Related formsan·ti-Greece, adjective
Can be confusedgrease Greece
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for athens

Contemporary Examples of athens

Historical Examples of athens

  • "When we are in Athens, I will show you something more beautiful than these," said Pericles.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • Aspasia remained in Athens, triumphant over the laws of religion and morality.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • They were the last she heard sung by Paralus, the night Anaxagoras departed from Athens.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • You can even now return, if you will submit to be a mere sojourner in Athens.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

  • "Stranger, thou hast not yet learned the fashions of Athens," said Anaxagoras, gravely.

    Philothea

    Lydia Maria Child

British Dictionary definitions for athens

Athens

noun
  1. 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)Greek name: Athinai (aˈθinɛ), Athina (aˈθina)

Greece

noun
  1. a republic in SE Europe, occupying the S part of the Balkan Peninsula and many islands in the Ionian and Aegean Seas; site of two of Europe's earliest civilizations (the Minoan and Mycenaean); in the classical era divided into many small independent city-states, the most important being Athens and Sparta; part of the Roman and Byzantine Empires; passed under Turkish rule in the late Middle Ages; became an independent kingdom in 1827; taken over by a military junta (1967–74); the monarchy was abolished in 1973; became a republic in 1975; a member of the European Union. Official language: Greek. Official religion: Eastern (Greek) Orthodox. Currency: euro. Capital: Athens. Pop: 10 772 967 (2013 est). Area: 131 944 sq km (50 944 sq miles)Modern Greek name: Ellás Related adjective: Hellenic
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for athens

Athens

city of ancient Attica, capital of modern Greece, from Greek Athenai (plural because the city had several distinct parts), traditionally derived from Athena, but probably assimilated from a lost name in a pre-Hellenic language.

Greece

c.1300, from Latin Graecia; named for its inhabitants; see Greek. Earlier in English was Greklond (c.1200). The Turkish name for the country, via Persian, is Yunanistan, literally "Land of the Ionians." Ionia also yielded the name for the country in Arabic and Hindi (Yunan).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
athens in Culture

Athens

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.”)

Athens

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.

Note

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”).

Note

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

Note

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

Greece

Republic in southeastern Europe on the southern part of the Balkan Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Athens (see also Athens).

Note

Greece is a member of NATO.

Note

Ancient Greek culture, particularly as developed in Athens, was the principal source of Western civilization.

Note

Tension and fighting between Greece and Turkey has continued for hundreds of years.

Note

It is known for its production of grapes, olives, and olive oil.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.