πόλις .πόλις, ιος, ἡ, gen. πόλεως dissyll. in Attic Poets Ionic and Doric πόλιος dissyll. in Il. Doric πολίεσι:—acc. πόλεις, πόλιας:— a city, Hom., Hes., etc.; πόλις ἄκρη and ἀκροτάτη, ἀκρόπολις, the citadel, Il.: this at Athens was often called simply πόλις, while the rest of the city was called ἄστυ, Thuc., etc.:—the name of the city was often added in gen., Ἰλίου π., Ἄργους π. the city of . . , Aesch., etc.; also in appos., ἡ Μένδη π. Thuc. oneʼs city or country, Od., etc. when πόλις and ἄστυ are joined, the former is the body of citizens, the latter their dwellings, Il.; ὧν πόλις ἀνάριθμος ὄλλυται, where πόλις a number of citizens, Soph.:—hence, the state (πολιτεία) , Hes., Pind., Attic: esp. a free state, republic, Soph., Xen., etc. the right of citizenship, like Lat. civitas, Ar., Dem.