Acropolis

Pronunciation

• RP enPR: É™krŏʹpÉ™lÄ­s, IPA: /əˈkɹɒpÉ™lɪs/,

Alternative forms

• akropolis

Origin

From Ancient Greek ἀκρόπολις, from ἄκρος (akros, "topmost”, “tip”, “summit") + πόλις (polis, "city").

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

Full definition of acropolis

Noun

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 Greece; 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.

Related terms

• acropolitan pertaining adjective
• acropoli non-standard plural

Anagrams

• prosocial