Athens

[ ath-inz ]

noun

1. a city in and the capital of Greece, in the southeastern part. Greek A·the·nai [ah-, thee, -ne].
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. 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 nameAthinaiaˈθinɛAthinaaˈθina

Athens

¹

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.” )

Athens

²

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.

Notes

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

Regardless, ancient Athens was a paradise of philosophical influence … and a mess in tangible reality.

From Ozy

I would’ve retired after Athens and probably went back to school.

From Washington Post

Bryan Duncan, a corrections officer at Limestone Correctional Facility and an Athens resident, said he’s felt the political winds shift since he first moved to north Alabama over two decades ago.

From ProPublica

In fact, unlike in most nations today, only the absolute wealthiest citizens in Athens — the “1 percent,” if you will — paid direct taxes.

From Ozy

She’s a graduate student at the University of Georgia in Athens.

From Science News For Students

First, sortition was the main system for choosing political officials in ancient Athens.

From The Daily Beast

Among these challengers is Olga Palagia, professor of archaeology at the University of Athens.

From The Daily Beast

Mrs. Clooney has been followed around Athens during a three-day visit by a horde of paparazzi that number into the hundreds.

From The Daily Beast

He roamed the streets of Athens asking people provocative questions that exposed uncomfortable contradictions in their beliefs.

From The Daily Beast

And so one recent evening I pulled into Athens, Ga., the 10th stop on my 15-city, self-engineered, all-drive, no-fly book tour.

From The Daily Beast

In Timon of Athens we find secure used as verb "Secure thy heart."

From Project Gutenberg

In Athens, rhetoric, mathematics, and natural history supplanted rhapsodies and speculations on God and Providence.

From Project Gutenberg

He must have accepted gifts, since his means of living were exceedingly small, even for Athens.

From Project Gutenberg

But he was always held, even at Athens, in the highest honor, and his pieces were frequently reproduced upon the stage.

From Project Gutenberg

Athens and Sparta were already in that mood toward each other which rendered the disaster of the Peloponnesian war inevitable.

From Project Gutenberg