necropolis

Meaning

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.

Origin

• Borrowed from Koine Greek νεκρόπολις (used to describe part of the city of Alexandria, Egypt), from Ancient Greek νεκρός (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *neḱ-) + πόλις (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tpelH-). 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.