Where does “Istanbul” come from?
Istanbul comes from Byzantine Greek εἰς τὴν Πόλιν, meaning "into the city," which Turkish speakers adopted and contracted into İstanbul.
Ancestry of “Istanbul”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Turkish | İstanbul | Istanbul |
| 2 | Byzantine Greek | πόλις | in the City; city; a whole country, as dependent... |
| 3 | Proto-Hellenic | ptólis | city |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | tpólHis | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | tpelH- | fortification, city |
Words derived from “Istanbul”