Word.ws English Dictionary

acropolis

/əˈkɹɒpəlɪs/

acropolis noun: 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.

acropolis: a promontory (usually fortified with a citadel) forming the hub of many Grecian cities, and around...
Image: A.Savin, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

acropolis (plural acropolises or acropoleis)

  1. 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.
    • The Etruscans, then, appear in general as an industrious people ( φιλότεχνον ἔθνος), of a bold and lofty spirit of enterprise, which was greatly favoured by their priestly aristocratic constitution. Massive walls, mostly of irregular blocks, surround their cities (not merely their acropoleis); the...1850, Karl Otfried Müller, John Leitch, transl., Ancient Art and Its Remains; or, A Manual of the Archæology of Art, page 146

Proper noun capitalized: Acropolis

the Acropolis

  1. The Athenian Acropolis.
    Synonyms:
    Kekropia

acropolis meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Tagalog and Indonesian

acropolis in Tamil

நகரின் உள்ளரண், ஆதென்ஸ் நகரத்தின் உள்ளரண்

acropolis in Urdu

کوٹ, بالا حَصار

acropolis in Tagalog

promontory of Ancient Greek cities
akropolis

acropolis in Indonesian

promontory of Ancient Greek cities
akropolis

Synonyms of acropolis

Forms of acropolis

Noun
pluralacropolises
pluralacropoleis
alternative formakropolis
Proper noun
alternative formAkropolis

Origin of acropolis

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis), from ἄκρος (ákros, “topmost”, “tip”, “summit”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”); By surface analysis, acro- + -polis.

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

Questions about acropolis

What does acropolis mean?
Acropolis 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.
What is acropolis in Tamil?
Acropolis in Tamil is நகரின் உள்ளரண், ஆதென்ஸ் நகரத்தின் உள்ளரண். See Acropolis meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is acropolis?
Acropolis can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce acropolis?
Acropolis is pronounced /əˈkɹɒpəlɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of acropolis?
The plural of acropolis is acropolises.

Words near acropolis in the dictionary

  1. acropodial
  2. acropodion
  3. acropodium
  4. acropoleis
  5. acropoli
  6. acropolis
  7. acropolises
  8. acropolitan
  9. acropomatid
  10. acropomatids
  11. acropore

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: acropolis (page history and authors); Acropolis (page history and authors); acropolis (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); acropolis (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-acropolis.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vininn126-acropolis.wav.

Cite this entry: “acropolis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/acropolis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.