A.Word.A.Day --necropolis

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Sep 16, 2011

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Words made with combining forms

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iridescent
heterodox
kleptocracy
polymath
necropolis

Necropolis of Pahlavan-Mahmud, Uzbekistan

Photo: Loïc Brohard

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A.Word.A.Day

with Anu Garg

necropolis

PRONUNCIATION:

(ne-KROP-uh-lis)

MEANING:

noun: A burial place, especially a large and elaborate cemetery belonging to an ancient city.

ETYMOLOGY:

From Greek necro- (dead) + -polis (city). Earliest documented use: 1819.

USAGE:

"This merchant lived a long life in Egypt and was buried in the Saqqara necropolis."
Nevine El-Aref; Ancient Egyptians in Arabia; Al-Ahram Weekly (Cairo, Egypt); Nov 11, 2010.

See more usage examples of necropolis in Vocabulary.com's dictionary.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:

A writer -- and, I believe, generally all persons -- must think that whatever happens to him or her is a resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose, and an artist must feel this more intensely. All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that we may shape our art. -Jorge Luis Borges, writer (1899-1986)

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