acropolis

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis), from ἄκρος (ákros, topmost”, “tip”, “summit) + πόλις (pólis, city).[1]

Pronunciation

Noun

acropolis (plural acropolises or acropoleis)

  1. 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.
    • 1850, Karl Otfried Müller and John Leitch (translator), Ancient Art and Its Remains; or, A Manual of the Archæology of Art, page 146:
      The Etruscans, then, appear in general as an industrious people ( φιλότεχνον ἔθνος), of a bold and lofty spirit of enterprise, which was greatly favoured by their priestly aristocratic constitution. Massive walls, mostly of irregular blocks, surround their cities (not merely their acropoleis); the art of protecting the country from inundations by the construction of canals, and outlets from lakes, was very zealously practised by them.

Translations

References

  1. Acropolis” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)

Anagrams

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