Athens

American  

[ath-inz] / ˈæθ ɪnz /

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.

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Athens British  

/ 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)

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Athens ¹ Cultural  

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.

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Athens ² Cultural  

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.”)

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Discover More

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

In the southern Athens seaside suburb of Glyfada, a pensioner struggles to cross an avenue with her shopping trolley, zigzagging between cars stuck in traffic.

From Barron's • Jul. 3, 2026

His exploits were a talking point at a recent shipping conference in Athens, where he was seen smoking cigars at late-night parties surrounded by bodyguards.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 2, 2026

Earlier this month, dozens of Ryanair passengers were left stranded in Athens after their flight to London Luton left without them.

From BBC • Jun. 23, 2026

If Burnham does replace Starmer, he must understand the correlation between bond yields in the U.K. and U.S., said Yanis Varoufakis, former Greek finance minister and economic theory professor at the University of Athens.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 22, 2026

There’s a milliner in Athens who trained with Love in Baltimore and she says Love’s daddy fought on the Union side in the War.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns