Etymology

Istanbul

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Today it means: A Turkish city, and the largest European city by population, which was the last capital of the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire). Full definition →

Turkish İstanbu ← Ottoman Turkish استانبول (İstanbul) ← Medieval Greek εἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis tḕn Pólin)
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The story

  1. Medieval Greekεἰς (eis)
  2. Medieval Greekἡ (hē)
  3. Proto-Indo-European*tpelH-
  4. Proto-Hellenic*ptólis
  5. Medieval Greekπόλις (pólis)
  6. Medieval Greekεἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis tḕn Pólin)
  7. Ottoman Turkishاستانبول (İstanbul)
  8. Turkishİstanbu
  9. English todayIstanbul

From Turkish İstanbul, from Ottoman Turkish استانبول (İstanbul), a corruption of Medieval Greek εἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis tḕn Pólin, “to the City”), which is how Constantinople was referred to by the local Greeks.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.