city-staten.
/ˌsɪtɪˈsteɪt/, U.S. /ˈsɪdiˌsteɪt/ Frequently in historical contexts.
A self-governing or sovereign state consisting of a city and its surrounding territory; the community of people living in, or the body politic of, this state.Many of the earliest historical cities, such as Ur, Uruk, Canaan, etc., functioned as city-states. Ancient Greece also consisted of several hundred city-states or poleis (see polis n.2), the Roman Empire grew from the city-state of Rome, and the European Renaissance originated in the merchant city-states of late medieval Italy. The only city-states with full sovereignty that exist today are Monaco, Singapore, and Vatican City.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > city > [noun] > sovereign or independent
freedom1423
city1481
free city1575
imperial city1603
city republic1838
city-state1840
1840 Boston Q. Rev. Apr. 191 Liberty..was weak in ancient times and is at this time weak in Europe because she dwells in city-states.
1893 W. W. Fowler (title) The City-State of the Greeks and Romans.
1906 Daily Chron. 25 Nov. 2/5 Athens, a city-state that could always give rise to great men.
1968 G. Jones Hist. Vikings iii. iv. 254 Northwards they had their city state of Novgorod and their base at Staraja Ladoga.
1983 J. L. Thomas Alternative Amer. v. 126 The commercial wealth of the Italian city-states of the Renaissance had produced oligarchies.
2002 Borneo Post 18 Nov. 24/1 The shares..do not mature for another five years, but hard-up Singaporeans cannot wait that long as the city-state teeters on the edge of a double-dip recession.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1840