polis

¹ American  

[poh-lis] / ˈpoʊ lɪs /

noun

plural

poleis

1. an ancient Greek city-state.

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-polis ² American  

1. a combining form, meaning “city,” appearing in loanwords from Greek (metropolis ), and used in the formation of placenames (Annapolis ).

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polis ¹ British  

/ ˈpɒlɪs /

noun

1. an ancient Greek city-state

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polis ² British  

/ ˈpolɪs /

noun

1. the police or a police officer

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Usage

What does -polis mean? The combining form -polis is used like a suffix meaning “city.” It is occasionally used in technical terms.The form -polis comes from Greek pólis, meaning “city.”

Etymology

Origin of polis¹

1890–95; < Greek pólis, plural (Ionic) póleis

Origin of -polis²

Combining form representing Greek pólis polis

Example Sentences

Playwrights addressed the polis not by dramatizing current events but by recasting tales from the mythological and historic past to sharpen critical thinking on contemporary concerns.

From Los Angeles Times

They were woven into the fabric of a democratic polis.

From Salon

Shadow puppets fill in the ancient Greek backstory involving a fellow named Thaddeus, who markets water in disposable vases that the polis can’t get enough of.

From Los Angeles Times

More than that, a kind of arts polis, a democratic gathering place for arts and ideas.

From Los Angeles Times

They also started to create what Václav Benda called a “parallel polis” – a world in which one tried to act as if one was already free.

From The Guardian

Related Words

• capital
• center
• downtown
• metropolis
• municipality
• place
• port