Meanings
plural city states · alternative city-state
- A sovereign city, as in Ancient Greece, often part of a league of such cities.
Singapore is the world's most populous city state and the only island city-state in the world.
1 more example
The Vatican City State, a sovereign city-state governed by Holy See, has a large number of embassies across the world.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA sovereign city, as in Ancient Greece, often part of a league of such cities.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- GermanStadtstaat
- Englishcity state
From city + state, a calque of German Stadtstaat.
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek πόλις
- πόλις (pólis)sovereign city
Arabic دولة مدينة
- دولة مدينة (dawla madīna)sovereign city
Bengali নগররাষ্ট্র
- নগররাষ্ট্র (nogroraśṭro)sovereign city
Catalan ciutat estat
- ciutat estatsovereign city
Chinese Cantonese 城邦, 城國 /城国
- 城邦sovereign city
- 城國 /城国sovereign city
- 市國 /市国 (si⁵ gwok³)sovereign city
- 城市國家 /城市国家 (sing⁴ si⁵ gwok³ gaa¹)sovereign city
- 都市國家 /都市国家 (dou¹ si⁵ gwok³ gaa¹)sovereign city
Chinese Mandarin 城邦, 城國 /城国
- 城邦 (chéngbāng)sovereign city
- 城國 /城国 (chéngguó)sovereign city
- 市國 /市国 (shìguó)sovereign city
- 城市國家 /城市国家 (chéngshì guójiā)sovereign city
- 都市國家 /都市国家 (dūshì guójiā)sovereign city
Czech městský stát
- městský státsovereign city
Danish bystat
- bystatsovereign city
Dutch stadstaat, burgerij
- stadstaatsovereign city
- burgerijsovereign city
Esperanto Urboŝtato
- Urboŝtatosovereign city
Estonian linnriik
- linnriiksovereign city
Finnish kaupunkivaltio
- kaupunkivaltiosovereign city
French cité-État
- cité-Étatsovereign city
German Stadtstaat
- Stadtstaatsovereign city
Greek πόλη κράτος, πόλη
- πόλη κράτος (póli krátos)sovereign city
- πόλη (póli)sovereign city
Hebrew עיר־מדינה
- עיר־מדינה ('ír-m'diná)sovereign city
Hindi नगर-राज्य
- नगर-राज्य (nagar-rājya)sovereign city
Hungarian városállam
- városállamsovereign city
Icelandic Borgríki
- Borgríkisovereign city
Indonesian negara kota
- negara kotasovereign city
Italian città-stato
- città-statosovereign city
Japanese 都市国家, 市国
- 都市国家 (toshikokka)sovereign city
- 市国 (shikoku)sovereign city
Korean 도시국가, 시국
- 도시국가 (dosigukga)sovereign city
- 시국 (siguk)sovereign city
Latin cīvitās, urbs-civitas
- cīvitāssovereign city
- urbs-civitassovereign city
Latvian pilsētvalsts
- pilsētvalstssovereign city
Lithuanian miestas-valstybė
- miestas-valstybėsovereign city
Malay نݢارا کوتا, negara kota
- نݢارا کوتاsovereign city
- negara kotasovereign city
Norwegian Bokmål bystat
- bystatsovereign city
Persian دولتشهر
- دولتشهر (dowlat-šahr)sovereign city
Polish miasto-państwo
- miasto-państwosovereign city
Portuguese cidade-estado, cidade-Estado
- cidade-estadosovereign city
- cidade-Estadosovereign city
Romanian oraş-stat
- oraş-statsovereign city
Russian го́род-госуда́рство
- го́род-госуда́рство (górod-gosudárstvo)sovereign city
Slovak mestský štát
- mestský štátsovereign city
Spanish ciudad estado
- ciudad estadosovereign city
Swahili dola-mji
- dola-mjisovereign city
Swedish stadsstat
- stadsstatsovereign city
Tamil நகர அரசு
- நகர அரசு (nakara aracu)sovereign city
Thai นครรัฐ
- นครรัฐ (ná-kɔɔn-rát)sovereign city
Turkish şehir devleti, site devlet
- şehir devletisovereign city
- site devletsovereign city
Ukrainian мі́сто-держа́ва
- мі́сто-держа́ва (místo-deržáva)sovereign city
Vietnamese thành bang
- thành bangsovereign city
Welsh dinas-wladwriaeth
- dinas-wladwriaethsovereign city
Cite this entry
city state. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/city%20state
“city state.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/city%20state. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “city state,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/city%20state.
Source: city state on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.