Acropolis
(əˈkrɒpəlɪs)
[Gr. ἀκρόπολις, f. ἄκρο- (see acro-) + πόλις city. (The pl., rarely used, would be analogically acropolēs; we find the Gr. ἀκροπόλεις simply transliterated.)]
The elevated part of the town, or the citadel, in a Grecian city; esp. that of Athens. Also fig.
| 1662 More Antid. agst. Ath. ii. xii. (1712) 79 As if Nature kept garrison in this Acropolis of Man's body, the Head. 1840 Arnold Hist. Rome II. 428 The Acropolis of Corinth was held by one Alexander. 1850 J. Leitch tr. Müller's Anc. Art §168, 146 Massive walls..surround their cities, not merely their acropoleis. 1876 H. N. Humphreys Coin Coll. Man. vi. 65 In Athens the weights connected with the coinage were kept with great care in the Acropolis. |