Ancient Greek word root · Society & Law

polis: city, state

polis is an Ancient Greek root meaning “city, state”. Learn its variants and explore 6 connected words.

Meaning and variants

Meaning: city, state

Root forms: polis, polit-, -polis

Source word: πόλις — city

Word family and examples

• politics

  the activities associated with the governance of a country or area

• metropolis

  the chief or capital city of a country or region

• cosmopolitan

  familiar with and at ease in many different countries and cultures

• acropolis

  A promontory (usually fortified with a citadel) forming the hub of many Grecian cities, and around which many were built for defensive purposes before and during the classical period; compare Acropolis.

• necropolis

  A cemetery; especially a large one in or near a city.

• megalopolis

  A large conurbation, where two or more large cities have sprawled outward to meet, forming something larger than a normal metropolis.

Root connections help with vocabulary recall. They are not a complete etymological history, and a spelling match alone does not prove a relationship.

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