necropolis meaning: definition, etymology and quotations

necropolis

noun

UK /nɛˈkɹɒpəlɪs/ · US /nɛˈkɹɑpələs/

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).

Also, Figuratively, Historical A cemetery; especially a large one in or near a city.

In Turkey, the tombs, according to the custom of the ancients, are always without the towns; and as each tomb has uſually a large ſtone, and ſome maſonry, they conſtitute what may almoſt be called a ſecond town, which may be named, as formerly at Alexandria, Necropolis, or the city of the dead.1793, C[onstantin] F[rançois] Volney, “Government of the Mamlouks”, in [anonymous], transl., Travels through Syria and Egypt, in the Years 1783, 1784, and 1785. […] In Two Volumes, volume I, Dublin: […] Messrs. White, Byrne, W. Porter, Moore, Dornin, and W[illia]m Jones, →OCLC, section II (The Misery and Famine of Later Years), footnote, page 120:
It was a lovely morning, as I said, and the Turks, who are early risers, were sitting on the graves of their kindred with their veiled wives and children, the marble turbans in that thickly-sown nekropolis less numerous than those of the living, who had come, not to mourn the dead who lay beneath, but to pass a day of idleness and pleasure on the spot endeared by their memories.1836, [Nathaniel Parker Willis], “The Gipsy of Sardis. Part III.”, in Inklings of Adventure … In Two Volumes, volume II, New York, N.Y.; London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, page 61:

4 more examples

[I]t [Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris] is an overcrowded, shabby, dusty, and ill-kept cemetery: Kensall Green, though incipient, is far more picturesque; and several American necropoleis beat it hollow.1856, [Martin Farquhar Tupper], Paterfamilias’s Diary of Everybody’s Tour: Belgium and the Rhine, Munich, Switzerland, Milan, Geneva and Paris, London: Thomas Hatchard, […], →OCLC, page 288:
The great main street, which ran from the eastern extremity of the city [of Alexandria, Egypt] to the Necropolis at the western end, a distance of thirty stadia, was thronged already with eager citizens, mostly arrayed in holiday costume, and with an expression of expectation on their animated countenances.[1875?], Mrs. [J. B.] Webb, chapter I, in Alypius of Tagaste: A Tale of the Early Church, London: Religious Tract Society; […], →OCLC, page 9:
READ, WILLIAM DAVID, [...] Sol-fa teacher, lecturer, and vocal composer. [...] He is interred in the Glasgow Necropolis, where a handsome monument has been erected to his memory by his friends and pupils.1894, “READ, WILLIAM DAVID”, in David Baptie, editor, Musical Scotland Past and Present: Being a Dictionary of Scottish Musicians from about 1400 till the Present Time: […], Paisley, Renfrewshire: J. and R. Parlane; […], →OCLC; reprinted as Hildesheim, Lower Saxony; New York, N.Y.: Georg Olms, 1972, →ISBN, page 154:
Even at Adam Smith's death Glasgow was a city of less than 50,000, less, that is, than the Kirkcaldy of 1951. [...] The pattern of the old city was simple; let us follow it out. [...] Across the ravine is the necropolis, a mountain of gravestones, with a monument of [John] Knox in the centre.1956, C[harles] R[yle] Fay, “Glasgow”, in Adam Smith and the Scotland of His Day, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, →OCLC, page 58:

Archaeology, History, Human sciences, Sciences An ancient site used for burying the dead, particularly if consisting of elaborate grave monuments.

These labours upon Phœnician necropoli are of great importance. [...] M. [Louis Félicien] de Saulcy, one of the first travellers who has thrown light upon these necropoli, devoted himself to a very interesting examination of the tombs of the kings, of the prophets and judges, and upon the immense necropolis that surrounds Jerusalem, like a funeral enceinte.1853, Abbé de St. Michon [i.e., Jean-Hippolyte Michon], chapter XIV, in [anonymous], transl., Narrative of a Religious Journey in the East in 1850 and 1851, London: Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 338:
The ancient Greeks generally buried their dead in their nekropoleis or their gardens; often on the road leading to their towns, or before the gates. This pious feeling of affection and reverence for the dead, is a touching feature in the character of the modern Greeks.1854, A[dolphus] L[ouis] Kœppen, “The Harbors and Naval Establishments of the Ancient Athenians—The Modern Peiræus”, in Sketches of a Traveller from Greece, Constantinople, Asia Minor, Syria and Palestine, Chambersburg, Pa.: […] M. Kieffer & Co., →OCLC, page 19:

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What shall I say of these immense Necropoleis, or Cities of the Dead, where the same care and labour were employed to embellish death, as other nations have bestowed on the adornment of life? Such an architecture could have sprung up only among a people filled with the idea of immortality, and in whose eyes earthly existence was but a fleeting passage to a future life.1859, James Burton Robinson, “Lecture IV. Lecture on the Geography, Institutions, Trade, Arts, and Sciences of Ancient Egypt”, in Public Lectures Delivered before the Catholic University of Ireland, on Some Subjects of Ancient & Modern History, in the Years 1856, 1857, & 1858, London: Catholic Bookselling & Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, page 149:
The monuments of Egypt are religious, as the temples; sepulchral, as the necropoles; or triumphal, as the obelisks. [...] The most splendid necropoles of Egypt are those of Memphis and Thebes, and to the necropolis of the former the pyramids of El-Geezeh, near Cairo, are especially related.1860, Anne C[harlotte] Lynch Botta, “Egyptian Literature”, in Hand-book of Universal Literature, from the Best and Latest Authorities: […], New York, N.Y.: Derby & Jackson, […], →OCLC, page 60:
Are we not overawed by those immense temples [in Egypt], those prodigious palaces, those grottos hewn in the living rock, those endless necropolises, and those indestructible colossi?1865 February 1, “Pointed Architecture. […]”, in The Art-Student; a Magazine of the Fine Arts: […], volume II, number 13, London: Hall, Smart, and Allen, […], →OCLC, page 262, column 2:
What would be the result if one attempted to determine the physical character of that people from a study of the remains in their necropoli?1899 May, William Z[ebina] Ripley, “The Origin of European Culture”, in Appleton’s Popular Science Monthly, volume LV, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton & Company, →OCLC, pages 24–25:

A city or settlement where most people are dead and/or dying.

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:
Jerusalem was a necropolis where old or sick pilgrims were content to die and be buried until the Resurrection.2011, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Jerusalem: The Biography – A History of the Middle East, page 271:

3 more examples

"A week from now, it will be completely unrecognizable," the chairman said. "It will have become a necropolis. I'm sure you will understand what that means, a man of your learning.” “A city of the dead.” “Exactly. The entire population has begun to die. […]"2012, Anthony Horowitz, Necropolis:
But bury them they did, a weary train of funerals held within the palisade, lest the Indians see the thinning of their ranks. James Fort became a necropolis.2018, Joseph Kelly, Marooned:
Ambazonia will become a necropolis comparable to certain other states in the region.2022, Daniel J. Pratt Morris-Chapman, An Ambazonian Liberation Theology?:

Derived terms: necropolitan, necropolitic