Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A city-state of ancient Greece.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun uncountable, Geordie The police.
  • noun countable, Geordie A policeman or policewoman.
  • noun A city, or a city-state.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Greek; see pelə- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Standard English police, compare Scots polis.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis, "city state").

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word polis.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.