polis
ポリス
解説 Definition
Polis は、古代ギリシャの都市国家を指す語です。アテネやスパルタのように、政治的共同体として機能した都市を説明するときに使われます。
A polis was an independent city-state in ancient Greece, consisting of an urban center, its surrounding territory, and the community of citizens who shared its political institutions. Athens and Sparta are well-known examples of poleis with distinct systems of government and public life.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
ギリシャ語 polis は単なる「町」ではなく、市民・政治制度を含む古代ギリシャの「都市国家」です。Athens や Sparta を、城壁内の都市と周辺地域からなる一つの政治共同体として思い浮かべましょう。politics「政治」や metropolis「大都市」に残る poli-/polis と結び付けると語の核を保てます。
Treat polis as more than the ordinary word city. In ancient Greece, a polis combined a town, its surrounding land, its citizens, and their political institutions into one self-governing community. Picture Athens or Sparta not only as a place on a map but as a body of citizens making public decisions. Connect polis with politics and metropolis, which preserve the Greek idea of a city or civic community. The scholarly plural is poleis, pronounced roughly “POL-ice,” not the regular-looking form polises.
例文
A Polis was more than a city; it was a political community.
ポリスは単なる都市ではなく、政治的な共同体でした。
Students compared the Polis of Athens with the Polis of Sparta.
学生たちはアテネのポリスとスパルタのポリスを比較しました。
Citizens of a Polis often took part in public decisions.
ポリスの市民はしばしば公的な決定に参加しました。
polis の類義語・関連語
polis の語源・成り立ち Etymology
polis はギリシャ語 polis「都市・国家」から入った語です。古代ギリシャでは都市がそのまま市民共同体や政治単位を意味したため、polis には「町」以上に「政治を営む都市国家」という感覚があり、その発想は politics や metropolis にも残っています。関連語は politics, metropolis。
Polis is a direct borrowing of Greek polis, meaning “city,” “state,” or “community of citizens.” In ancient Greek usage, the city and its organized political community were closely connected, producing the specialized historical sense “city-state.” The Greek stem appears in many English formations, including politics, metropolis, cosmopolitan, and acropolis. Its traditional Greek plural, also used in scholarly English, is poleis rather than polises.
同じレベルの英単語をもっと
外部辞書で調べる
この単語を英単語クイズで覚えよう