acropolis
noun
- defensible hilltop used as a settlement's religious, military, and/or political center
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /əˈkɹɒpəlɪs/
name
Etymology: Borrowed from Ancient Greek Ἀκρόπολις (Akrópolis, “Acropolis”), from ἄκρος (ákros, “highest”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”).
- The Athenian Acropolis.
noun
Etymology: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἀκρόπολις (akrópolis), from ἄκρος (ákros, “topmost”, “tip”, “summit”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”); By surface analysis, acro- + -polis.
- A promontory (usually fortified with a citadel) forming the hub of many Grecian cities, and around which many were built for defensive purposes before and during the classical period; compare Acropolis.
“The Etruscans, then, appear in general as an industrious people ( φιλότεχνον ἔθνος), of a bold and lofty spirit of enterprise, which was greatly favoured by their priestly aristocratic constitution. Massive walls, mostly of irregular blocks, surround their cities (not merely their acropoleis); the art of protecting the country from inundations by the construction of canals, and outlets from lakes, was very zealously practised by them.”