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

He spent six years on the run and in July 2025 he was arrested at Athens while he was boarding a plane to Dubai and later extradited back to Moldova.

From BBC • Apr. 22, 2026

Owners managing the crisis from offices in Singapore, Athens and London are recalculating routes and costs.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 21, 2026

Former USC and Georgia receiver Zachariah Branch was arrested early Sunday in Athens, Ga., for not moving far enough on a public sidewalk when a police officer asked him to do so.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 20, 2026

The Sunday Independent reported that flights from Dublin to European airports -including Amsterdam, Athens, Berlin, Faro and Zurich are to be removed from the schedule on a range of dates.

From BBC • Apr. 19, 2026

One of Frank’s letters had mentioned something about Athens, Greece.

From "Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown" by Steve Sheinkin