Meanings
proper noun
alternative İstanbul · alternative Stambul · alternative Stamboul
- 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).
Nearly a century ago, my grandfather passed through Istanbul en route to Europe along with hordes of other White Russians fleeing the Russian civil war.
2014 July 21, Ivan Watson, “Loud, anarchic, quirky: My love affair with Istanbul”, in CNN, archived from the original on 20 Feb 2026 - A province in Turkey.
Synonyms: Byzantium, Byzantion, Constantinople
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounA province in Turkey.
Similar
Also see
Origin
- Medieval Greekεἰς (eis)
- Medieval Greekἡ (hē)
- Proto-Indo-European*tpelH-
- Proto-Hellenic*ptólis
- Medieval Greekπόλις (pólis)
- Medieval Greekεἰς τὴν Πόλιν (eis tḕn Pólin)
- Ottoman Turkishاستانبول (İstanbul)
- Turkishİstanbu
- EnglishIstanbul
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.
More words from Turkish, Ottoman Turkish, Medieval Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans Istanboel, Istanbul
- Istanboellargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Ancient Greek Κωνσταντινούπολις
- Κωνσταντινούπολις (Kōnstantinoúpolis)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Arabic إِسْطَنْبُول, إِسْتَنْبُول
- إِسْطَنْبُول (ʔisṭanbūl)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- إِسْتَنْبُول (ʔistanbūl)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- إستانبولlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Basque Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Bengali ইস্তাম্বুল
- ইস্তাম্বুল (istambul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Bulgarian Истанбу́л, Царигра́д
- Истанбу́л (Istanbúl)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Царигра́д (Carigrád)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Константино́пол (Konstantinópol)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Catalan Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Chinese Mandarin 伊斯坦布爾 /伊斯坦布尔, 伊斯坦堡
- 伊斯坦布爾 /伊斯坦布尔 (Yīsītǎnbù'ěr)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- 伊斯坦堡 (Yīsītǎnbǎo)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Czech Istanbul, Cařihrad
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Cařihradlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Danish Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Dutch Istanboel
- Istanboellargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Esperanto Istanbulo
- Istanbulolargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Estonian Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Finnish Istanbul, Konstantinopoli
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Konstantinopolilargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
French Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
German Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Greek Κωνσταντινούπολη, Πόλη
- Κωνσταντινούπολη (Konstantinoúpoli)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Πόλη (Póli)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Hebrew אִיסְטַנְבּוּל
- אִיסְטַנְבּוּל (istanbul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Hindi इस्तांबुल
- इस्तांबुल (istāmbul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Hungarian Isztambul
- Isztambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Icelandic Istanbúl, Mikligarður
- Istanbúllargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Mikligarðurlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Indonesian Istambul
- Istambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Irish Iostanbúl
- Iostanbúllargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Italian Istambul, Istanbul
- Istambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Stambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Japanese イスタンブール
- イスタンブール (Isutanbūru)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Korean 이스탄불
- 이스탄불 (Iseutanbul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Latin Bȳzantium, Cōnstantīnopolis
- Bȳzantiumlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Cōnstantīnopolislargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Latvian Stambula
- Stambulalargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Lithuanian Stambulas
- Stambulaslargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Malay Istanbul, Setambul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Setambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Norwegian Bokmål Istanbul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Polish Stambuł, Istambuł
- Stambułlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Istambułlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Portuguese Istambul
- Istambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Romanian Istanbul, Stambul
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Stambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Țarigradlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Russian Стамбу́л, Царьгра́д
- Стамбу́л (Stambúl)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Царьгра́д (Carʹgrád)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Константино́поль (Konstantinópolʹ)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Slovak Carihrad, Istanbul
- Carihradlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Konštantínopollargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Konštantinopollargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Spanish Estambul
- Estambullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Swedish Istanbul, Konstantinopel
- Istanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- Konstantinopellargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Tamil இசுதான்புல்
- இசுதான்புல் (icutāṉpul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Thai อิสตันบูล
- อิสตันบูล (ís-dtân-buul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Turkish İstanbul
- İstanbullargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Ukrainian Стамбу́л
- Стамбу́л (Stambúl)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Urdu اِسْتَن٘بول
- اِسْتَن٘بول (istaṉbol)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Vietnamese Tân La Mã
- Tân La Mãlargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Welsh Istanbwl
- Istanbwllargest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Yiddish סטאַמבול, איסטאַנבול
- סטאַמבול (stambul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
- איסטאַנבול (istanbul)largest city of Turkey and last capital of the Ottoman Empire
Cite this entry
APA
Istanbul. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Istanbul
MLA
“Istanbul.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Istanbul. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Istanbul,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Istanbul.
Source: Istanbul on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.