necropolis means A cemetery; especially a large one in or near a city. It carries an Arena rating of 1825, earned across 14 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, necropolis ranks #287 of 42,749 for Qualifying, #422 of 17,143 for Best Fossil-Poetry Words, #476 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #833 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words.
necropolis is pronounced /nɛˈkɹɒpəlɪs/.
Why “necropolis” is a great word
A large, elaborate cemetery, especially an ancient one with monumental tombs. From the Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós, 'dead') + πόλις (pólis, 'city'), literally meaning 'city of the dead.' Unlike a cemetery—a general term for any burial ground—or a graveyard—a smaller, often church-bound plot—a necropolis implies a deliberate urban design for the departed, a monumental and permanent civic architecture for eternity. It is a grid of stone houses with no hearth-light, boulevards of carved obelisks where the only traffic is shadow, and silent suburbs whose residents never stir. This planned metropolis inverts the very definition of a city, built not for the clamor of life but for its formal, final absence.
Etymology
Borrowed from Koine Greek νεκρόπολις (nekrópolis, “city of the dead, cemetery”) (used to describe part of the city of Alexandria, Egypt), from Ancient Greek νεκρός (nekrós, “dead”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ- (“to disappear; to perish”)) + πόλις (pólis, “city”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- (“city; fortification”)). 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).
noun
- A cemetery; especially a large one in or near a city.
- An ancient site used for burying the dead, particularly if consisting of elaborate grave monuments.
- A city or settlement where most people are dead and/or dying.e.g.“You think London isn't a necropolis? Let me tell you it is. And people love it. Our cemeteries are popular tourist attractions.” — 1998, Geoff Nicholson, Bleeding London:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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