πόλις Ancient Greek · revision 15424

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=Homer, Iliad|origins=ine-pro *tpelH-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (5th-century BC Attic): /pó.lis/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (4th-century AD Koine): /ˈpo.lis/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (10th-century Byzantine): /ˈpo.lis/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''πόλῐς''' (pólis) ''f'' (genitive πόλεως); third declension^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|grk-pro|*ptólis]], [[inh|ine-pro|*tpólHis]], from [[m|ine-pro|*tpelH-|t=fortification; city]].^(Wiktionary) The older form [[m|grc|πτόλις|tr=ptólis]] (epic, Cypriot, Thessalian, Arcadian)^(Beekes 2010) would show the change of /tp/ to /pt/;^(Wiktionary) Frisk thought that form had not been convincingly explained.^(Frisk 1960) [[gmy|po-to-ri-jo]] has been read as a name formed from it.^(Beekes 2010)

+

+ It is an old word for a stronghold or refuge, found outside Greek only in the east: [[sa|पुर्|tr=pū́r|t=fortress, city]] and [[lt|pilìs|t=castle]].^(Frisk 1960)^(Wiktionary) The genitive [[m|grc|πόλεως|tr=póleōs]] comes from older [[m|grc|πόληος|tr=pólēos]] by a shift of vowel length.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In Homer it is a town or city; at Troy it also means the citadel, often “the upper city”.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Already in Homer it is the city as a community;^(CGL 2021) in the Classical period it is the self-governing city-state with its surrounding land.^(CGL 2021) Thucydides, Aristophanes and the Attic orators use it for the Acropolis of Athens, and it also means one's native city, a territory, and the body of citizens.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ The Septuagint calls Jerusalem “the holy city”,^(Lust 2003) and the New Testament uses it for towns and cities of any size.^(BDAG 2000) In medieval Greek “the City” was Constantinople.^(Kriaras) The modern form is [[el|πόλη|tr=póli]].^(Kriaras)^(Πάπυρος) English ''polis'' (1894) and ''-polis'' come from it.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Homer – The ''Iliad'' uses it for a city and for the citadel of Troy.^(CGL 2021)^(Cunliffe 1924)

+ * 5th century BC – Thucydides uses it for the Acropolis of Athens.^(CGL 2021)^(DGE)

+ * 3rd–2nd century BC – The Septuagint calls Jerusalem the holy city.^(Lust 2003)

+ * Medieval – “The City” means Constantinople.^(Kriaras)

+ * 1894 – English borrows ''polis'' for the Greek city-state.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|citadel]]; at Athens, the [[m|en|Acropolis]].^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # A [[m|en|city]], town.^(CGL 2021)^(LSJ 1940)

+ # The city as a political community, a [[m|en|city-state]], state.^(CGL 2021)

+ # One's native city.^(CGL 2021)

+ # A land or territory.^(CGL 2021)

+ # The citizens, the community.^(CGL 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[μητρόπολις|tr=mētrópolis]]

+ * [[πολιήτης|tr=poliḗtēs]]

+ * [[πόλινδε|tr=pólinde]]

+ * [[πόλισμα|tr=polísma]]

+ * [[πολισσόος|tr=polissóos]]

+ * [[πολιτεία|tr=polīteíā]]

+ * [[πολίτης|tr=polī́tēs]]

+ * [[πολιτικά|tr=polītiká]]

+ * [[πολιτική|tr=polītikḗ]]

+ * [[πολιτικόν|tr=polītikón]]

+ * [[πολιτικός|tr=polītikós]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[en|polis]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}