polis
1 of 2noun
po·lis ˈpä-ləs 
plural poleis ˈpä-ˌlās
: a Greek city-state
broadly : a state or society especially when characterized by a sense of community
-polis
2 of 2noun combining form
: city
megalopolis
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web
Wired, 28 July 2022 Unlike your small polis, our larger and anonymous modern democracies use enforceable laws and contracts to be more impartial and spread benefits to more people. Mark Shiffman, Harper’s Magazine , 16 Mar. 2022 Upon its defeat, the once-great polis fell under the tyrannical control of Sparta. Frank Holmes, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2022 Shadow puppets fill in the ancient Greek backstory involving a fellow named Thaddeus, who markets water in disposable vases that the polis can’t get enough of. Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2021 Her political ideal is the Greek space of the polis, or city-state. Lauren Markham, Harper's Magazine, 16 Mar. 2021 Placed around the polis, these statues, depicting nude young men, served as a living symbol for the ideal citizen. Autumn Wright, Wired, 16 Jan. 2021 As the locus of masculinity in Ancient Greece, the 17- to 18-year-old boy becomes an ephebe after shaving his first beard and beginning a requisite two years of military service for the polis. Autumn Wright, Wired, 16 Jan. 2021 If everything in Athens concerns the public and the polis, then Eleusis, 13 miles to the east, concerns a transformation that is private and outside of politics. New York Times, 28 Apr. 2020 See More
Noun
Few of those positive connotations survive today, and yet the resurgent nostalgia for dumb technologies is often spurred by a not entirely modern desire to distance oneself from the bustle of the polis and the frenzied commerce of the agora. Wired, 28 July 2022 Unlike your small polis, our larger and anonymous modern democracies use enforceable laws and contracts to be more impartial and spread benefits to more people. Mark Shiffman, Harper’s Magazine , 16 Mar. 2022 Upon its defeat, the once-great polis fell under the tyrannical control of Sparta. Frank Holmes, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2022 Shadow puppets fill in the ancient Greek backstory involving a fellow named Thaddeus, who markets water in disposable vases that the polis can’t get enough of. Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2021 Her political ideal is the Greek space of the polis, or city-state. Lauren Markham, Harper's Magazine, 16 Mar. 2021 Placed around the polis, these statues, depicting nude young men, served as a living symbol for the ideal citizen. Autumn Wright, Wired, 16 Jan. 2021 As the locus of masculinity in Ancient Greece, the 17- to 18-year-old boy becomes an ephebe after shaving his first beard and beginning a requisite two years of military service for the polis. Autumn Wright, Wired, 16 Jan. 2021 If everything in Athens concerns the public and the polis, then Eleusis, 13 miles to the east, concerns a transformation that is private and outside of politics. New York Times, 28 Apr. 2020 See More Word History
Etymology
Noun
borrowed from Greek pólis "citadel, city, community of citizens, city-state" — more at police entry 1
Noun combining form
borrowed from Greek, combining form of pólis "citadel, city, community of citizens, city-state" — more at police entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
1884, in the meaning defined above