What does polis mean?
A polis is a city conceived as a civic and political community. Its best-known historical sense refers to the independent city-states of ancient Greece, such as Athens, Sparta, Corinth, and Thebes. Each polis combined an urban center with a surrounding territory, a shared civic identity, and institutions for political participation, law, and defense. Although these states were not democratic in a modern sense and could preserve or exclude different groups within their populations, the notion of citizens governing a community became an important influence on later political thought. In modern usage, particularly in Greek contexts, a polis can also mean a city or municipality as an organized urban community. The word is therefore valuable both as a precise historical term and as the source of a wider family of English expressions connected with cities, citizens, and politics.
nounAn independent city-state of ancient Greece, especially one characterized by a shared civic identity, political institutions, and surrounding territory. In modern usage, the term can also refer to a city or urban community regarded as a political community.
- An independent city-state of ancient Greece with its own government, laws, territory, and civic identity.
- A city or urban community regarded as a distinct civic or political community, especially in modern Greece.
"Athens was the most influential polis during the classical period of ancient Greece."
"Sparta and Athens were rival Greek polises whose alliances and rivalries shaped the ancient Mediterranean world."
"The modern polis of Athens is home to both the ancient Acropolis and Greece's national government."
The standard English plural is “polises.” In discussions of the ancient Greek city-states, “poleis” is also encountered as a scholarly transliteration of the Ancient Greek plural.
"Trade and military rivalry connected the polises of the Mediterranean world."
From the Greek word for city came not only the idea of the city-state but also the political language of citizens, politics, and participation in public life.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does polis come from?
The English word comes from Ancient Greek polis, meaning “city” or “city-state,” a term associated with the political communities of the Greek world. It was borrowed into Latin and later into English in its historical sense. The same Greek root underlies cognates including politics, political, cosmopolitan, and metropolitan, all of which connect civic organization or urban life with the ideas of a city and its inhabitants.
Related word forms
How polis is actually used
In historical writing, the term most often refers to the city-states of ancient Greece. Its modern use is especially associated with Greek civic and municipal vocabulary and may sound formal or literary in English.
Easily confused with polis
A polis is an ancient Greek city-state or civic community, whereas police are the officials and organizations responsible for maintaining law and public order.