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.

Istanbul (English): A Turkish city, and the largest European city by population, which was the last capital of the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)

Definitions

  1. A Turkish city, and the largest European city by population, which was the last capital of the Ottoman Empire and the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roman Empire)

Ancestry of “Istanbul”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1TurkishİstanbulIstanbul
2Byzantine Greekπόλιςin the City; city; a whole country, as dependent...
3Proto-Hellenicptóliscity
4Proto-Indo-EuropeantpólHis—
5Proto-Indo-EuropeantpelH-fortification, city

Words derived from “Istanbul”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European tpelH- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European tpólHis →Every word from Proto-Hellenic ptólis →