English
necropolis
Necropolis comes from Koine Greek νεκρόπολις ‘city of the dead, cemetery’, from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘to disappear’, and ultimately from *tpelH- ‘city’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tpelH-1‘city’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-1‘to disappear’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνεκρός1nekrós‘dead’
- Koine Greekc. 300 BCE–600 CEνεκρόπολις1nekrópolis‘city of the dead, cemetery’
- Englishearliest quotation 1793necropolis1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English necropolis
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1793, Constantin François Volney, Government of the Mamlouks: “In Turkey, the tombs, according to the custom of…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*tpelH-Wiktionary, English necropolis‘city’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*neḱ-Wiktionary, English necropolis‘to disappear’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEνεκρόςWiktionary, English necropolisnekrós‘dead’
- Koine Greekc. 300 BCE–600 CEνεκρόπολιςWiktionary, English necropolisnekrópolis‘city of the dead, cemetery’
- Englishearliest quotation 1793necropolisWiktionary, English necropolis. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1793, Constantin François Volney, Government of the Mamlouks: “In Turkey, the tombs, according to the custom of…”
Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- ‘fortification, city’
Proto-Hellenic *ptólis ‘city’
Ancient Greek πόλις ‘fortified town’
English polis
The story
The English word is analysable as necro- + -polis, and is cognate with French nécropole, German Nekropolis, Late Latin necropolis. The plural form necropoleis is derived from Ancient Greek νεκροπόλεις (nekropóleis).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- ‘city’
through Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- ‘to disappear’
innocent, innocence, obnoxious, nuisance, innocuous, noxious, nectar, internecine, 18 more
Today it means
noun A cemetery; especially a large one in or near a city.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “necropolis”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- / necropolis