polis

¹

[ poh-lis ]

noun

, plural po·leis [poh, -lahys].

1. an ancient Greek city-state.

-polis

²

1. a combining form, meaning “city,” appearing in loanwords from Greek ( metropolis ), and used in the formation of placenames ( Annapolis ).

polis

¹

/ ˈpolɪs /

noun

1. the police or a police officer

polis

²

/ ˈpɒlɪs /

noun

1. an ancient Greek city-state

Word History and Origins

Origin of polis¹

1890–95; < Greek pólis, plural (Ionic) póleis

Origin of polis²

Combining form representing Greek pólis polis

Word History and Origins

Origin of polis¹

C19: a variant pronunciation of police

Origin of polis²

from Greek: city

Example Sentences

Kennedy “will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA”, Colorado’s Democratic Governor Jared Polis wrote on social media this week, welcoming his nomination.

From BBC

After receiving public backlash for praising him, Polis qualified his endorsement, writing on social media that "science must remain THE cornerstone of our nation’s health policy".

From BBC

Democratic Governor of Colorado Jared Polis turned heads with a Thursday night post to X praising the pick.

From Salon

Pritzker, D-Ill. and Jared Polis, D-Colo., have formed a coalition of fellow state-level executives to resist "increasing threats of autocracy" and potential power grabs by a second Donald Trump administration.

From Salon

Pritzker, Polis and others like Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., have struck a defiant tone since Trump was elected president, promising to use all legal means at their disposal to protect their states against federal policies they deem harmful and unconstitutional.

From Salon

Related Words

• capital
• center
• downtown
• metropolis
• municipality
• place
• port

Words That Use -polis

What does -polis mean?

The combining form -polis is used like a suffix meaning “city.” It is occasionally used in technical terms.

The form -polis comes from Greek pólis, meaning “city.”

Examples of -polis

An example of a word you may have encountered that features -polis is megalopolis, “a very large city.”

The megalo- part of the word means “large,” from Greek mégas. As we have seen, -polis means “city.” Megalopolis literally translates to “large city.”

What are some words that use the combining form -polis?

• cosmopolis
• menopolis
• metropolis (using the equivalent form of -polis in Greek)
• necropolis (using the equivalent form of -polis in Greek)
• propolis (using the equivalent form of -polis in Greek)

What are some other forms that -polis may be commonly confused with?

• -lysis
• -poiesis

Break it down!

The combining form necro- means “dead.” With this in mind, what does necropolis literally mean?