πόλις
Alt. πόλις, ιος, ἡ,
Etym. gen. πόλεως dissyll. in attic Poets
Etym. ionic and doric πόλιος dissyll. in Il.
I. doric πολίεσι:—acc. πόλεις, πόλιας:— "a city", Hom., Hes., etc.; πόλις ἄκρη and ἀκροτάτη, ῀ ἀκρόπολις, "the citadel", Il.: this at Athens was often called simply πόλις, while the rest of the city was called ἄστυ, Thuc., etc.:—the name of the city was often added in gen., Ἰλίου π., Ἄργους π. "the city of..", Aesch., etc.; also in appos., ἡ Μένδη π. Thuc.
2. "one's city or country", Od., etc.
II. when πόλις and ἄστυ are joined, the former is the "body of citizens", the latter "their dwellings", Il.; ὧν πόλις ἀνάριθμος ὄλλυται, where πόλις = "a number of citizens", Soph.:—hence,
2. "the state" (πολιτεία), Hes., Pind., attic: esp. "a free state, republic", Soph., Xen., etc.
3. "the right of citizenship", like Lat. civitas, Ar., Dem.