What does acropolis mean?
An acropolis is the elevated, fortified heart of an ancient Greek city — literally its 'highest city' — where temples, treasuries, and other civic buildings were gathered for both protection and prestige. The term applies to such citadels across the Greek world, but it is most famously associated with the Acropolis of Athens, crowned by the Parthenon and other fifth-century BCE monuments that remain among the most celebrated works of Western architecture. In modern usage, the capitalized form names that specific Athenian site, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the world's most visited landmarks, while the lowercase form serves historians and archaeologists describing comparable strongholds elsewhere. The word evokes antiquity, civic pride, and monumental architecture, appearing chiefly in academic, journalistic, and travel contexts. Its Greek roots — akros ('highest') and polis ('city') — also echo in related words such as 'acrobat' and 'politics', making it a useful anchor for understanding a whole family of English vocabulary.
nounA citadel or fortified high place in an ancient Greek city, typically built on elevated ground and containing the city's most important temples and public buildings.
- The citadel or high fortified part of an ancient Greek city, especially the one at Athens with its famous temples such as the Parthenon.
- By extension, any similar elevated citadel or fortified upper town in other ancient cities.
"Tourists climbed the steep marble steps to the Acropolis as the morning sun lit up the Parthenon."
"The Acropolis of Athens dominates the modern skyline just as it did in antiquity."
"Archaeologists uncovered the remains of an acropolis at the heart of the ancient settlement."
The anglicized plural 'acropolises' is standard in general usage; the Greek-derived 'acropoleis' appears mainly in scholarly writing about the ancient world.
"Excavations have revealed acropolises at several sites across the Aegean."
The word 'acropolis' literally means 'highest city' in Greek — and Athens' Acropolis has been standing above the city for some 2,500 years, surviving wars, explosions, and pollution to become one of the world's most visited monuments.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of acropolis
The word 'acropolis' comes directly from the Greek akropolis, formed from akros meaning 'highest' or 'topmost' and polis meaning 'city', so it originally meant simply 'the highest point of a city'. It entered English in the early seventeenth century, initially through Latin scholarship on ancient Greece. The same two Greek roots gave rise to many other English words: akros underlies 'acrobat' and 'acrophobia', while polis feeds into 'politics', 'police', and 'metropolitan' via related Greek derivatives.
How acropolis is actually used
When referring to the famous site in Athens, 'the Acropolis' is capitalized as a proper noun; lowercase 'acropolis' refers generically to any such citadel. The word carries scholarly and historical connotations and appears mostly in archaeological, historical, and travel writing rather than everyday conversation.
Easily confused with acropolis
An acropolis is a fortified high point of a living city, while a necropolis is a large ancient cemetery or 'city of the dead'.