-polis

suffix

"polis" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“-polis” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a suffix. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Forms names of cities or kinds of cities.

Corpus desk

Index EN-polis · -polis · English

-polis · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "-" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for -polis
PropertyValue
Headword-polis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechSuffix
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “-polis” in English

-polissits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

-polis is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as asuffix. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Forms names of cities or kinds of cities.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for -polis, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- Proto-Hellenic *ptólis Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis)bor. Latin -polislbor. English -polis Learned borrowing from Latin -polis, from Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis, “city”). The correct English form is -polis, spelled --P-O-L-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Forms names of cities or kinds of cities.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- Proto-Hellenic *ptólis Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis)bor. Latin -polislbor. English -polis Learned borrowing from Latin -polis, from Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis, “city”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "-polis"?
"-polis" is spelled --P-O-L-I-S.
What does "-polis" mean?
As a suffix, "-polis" means: Forms names of cities or kinds of cities.
What is the origin of the word "-polis"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *tpelH- Proto-Hellenic *ptólis Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis)bor. Latin -polislbor. English -polis Learned borrowing from Latin -polis, from Ancient Greek πόλις (pólis, “city”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list