Where does “polis” come from?

Polis comes from Ancient Greek πόλις, which referred to a city-state or the body of citizens within it, entering English through French police and Italian polizia, which adopted the term to denote civic order and administration.

polis (English): A Greek city-state; The police; A police officer

Definitions

  1. A Greek city-state; The police; A police officer

Ancestry of “polis”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Ancient Greekπόλιςcity; a whole country, as dependent on and called...
2Proto-Hellenicptóliscity
3Proto-Indo-EuropeantpólHis
4Proto-Indo-EuropeantpelH-fortification, city
Every word from Proto-Indo-European tpelH-