Etymology

acropolis

A1C3R1O1P3O1L1I1S1

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

Ancient Greek ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis) ← Proto-Hellenic *ptólis ← Proto-Indo-European *tpelH-
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

acropolis · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂eḱrós
  3. Proto-Hellenic[Term?]
  4. Ancient Greekᾰ̓́κρος (ắkros)
  5. Proto-Indo-European*tpelH-
  6. Proto-Hellenic*ptólis
  7. Ancient Greekπόλῐς (pólĭs)
  8. Ancient Greekἀκρόπολις (akrópolis)
  9. English todayacropolis

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis, “acropolis; high part of a city”), from ᾰ̓́κρος (ắkros, “at the edge; extreme, outermost”) + πόλῐς (pólĭs, “city; the Athenian citadel”). By surface analysis, acro- + -polis.

Acropolis · proper noun2

  1. Ancient Greek · borrowed fromἈκρόπολις“Acropolis”
  2. English todayAcropolis

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀκρόπολις (Akrópolis, “Acropolis”), from ἄκρος (ákros, “highest”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.