necropolis
/nəkˈɹɒpələs/nuh-KRO-puh-luhs
/nəkˈɹɑpələs/nuh-KRAH-puh-luhs
Meaninga city of the dead
Common meaning: a large ancient cemetery
- necra corpse; deadLiddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), p. 527 · scan
- pola city, a citizen communityLiddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), p. 1240 · scan
- isGreek noun ending marking an act or process
‘a corpse’ + ‘a city, a citizen community’ → necropolis
Journey through time
Neither part’s path through time is traced in our sources yet; each root is shown from its dictionary entry.
- necr — Greek νεκρός “a corpse; dead” (dictionary form; path not traced)
- pol — Greek πόλις “a city, a citizen community” (dictionary form; path not traced)
Sources & notes
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Built on Greek νεκρός ‘a corpse; dead’ + Greek πόλις ‘a city, a citizen community’.
Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Greek-English Lexicon (1883), entry πόλις, p. 1240 · dictionary scan
Roots
Related words
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