necropolis

noun

ne·​crop·​o·​lis nə-ˈkrä-pə-ləs 

ne-

plural necropolises or necropoles nə-ˈkrä-pə-ˌlēz 

ne-

or necropoleis nə-ˈkrä-pə-ˌlās 

ne-

or necropoli nə-ˈkrä-pə-ˌlī 

-ˌlē,

ne-

: cemetery

especially : a large elaborate cemetery of an ancient city

Did you know?

With its -polis ending, meaning "city", a necropolis is a "city of the dead". Most of the famous necropolises of Egypt line the Nile River across from their cities. In ancient Greece and Rome, a necropolis would often line the road leading out of a city; in the 1940s a great Roman necropolis was discovered under the Vatican's St. Peter's Basilica. Some more recent cemeteries especially deserve the name necropolis because they resemble cities of aboveground tombs, a necessity in low-lying areas such as New Orleans where a high water table prevents underground burial.

Synonyms

• cemetery
• graveyard

Examples of necropolis in a Sentence

Archaeologists uncovered a necropolis of ancient Rome.

an ancient necropolis that has given archaeologists valuable insights into how people once lived and died

Recent Examples on the Web

Colma, California, is a necropolis where the dead outnumber the living by a thousand to one. —Chris Kenning, USA Today, 25 Oct. 2025

Surrounded by lovely countryside and located near the coast, Paestum also features the National Archaeological Museum, which houses funerary items, pots, etc found in the town, in the nearby necropolises and at the sanctuary dedicated to Hera. —Joanne Shurvell, Forbes.com, 18 July 2025

In the 1920s, archaeologists excavating the necropolis of Deir el-Bahri near Luxor, Egypt, found many broken statues of the ancient Egyptian queen Hatshepsut—one of the civilization’s few female pharaohs. —Sonja Anderson, Smithsonian Magazine, 26 June 2025

After the Entrada, there are traces of Teotihuacan’s presence all over Tikal, from royal burials in a necropolis to distinctly Mexican architecture mixed with Maya elements in a complex of residential and ceremonial buildings near the heart of the city. —ArsTechnica, 10 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin, "cemetery," borrowed from Greek Nekrópolis, literally, "city of the dead," name of a large cemetery in a suburb of ancient Alexandria, from nekro- necro- + -polis -polis

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for necropolis

• acropolis
• metropolis
• monopolise
• megalopolis
• propolis