city in southern Italy founded by Greek colonists 5c. B.C.E., from Italian Napoli, from Greek Neapolis, literally "New City," from nea, fem. of neos "new" (see neo-) + polis "city" (see polis).
Entries linking to naples
neo-
word-forming element meaning "new, young, recent," used in a seemingly endless number of adjectives and nouns, mostly coined since c. 1880, from Greek neos "new, young, youthful; fresh, strange; lately, just now," from PIE root *newo- (see new). In the physical sciences, caeno-, ceno- is used in the same sense. Paleo- is opposed to both.
polis n.
"ancient Greek city-state," 1894, from Greek polis, ptolis "citadel, fort, city, one's city; the state, community, citizens," from PIE *tpolh- "citadel; enclosed space, often on high ground; hilltop" (source also of Sanskrit pur, puram, genitive purah "city, citadel," Lithuanian pilis "fortress").
Neapolitan n.
early 15c., "native or resident of Naples," literally "of Naples," from Latin Neapolitanus, from Neapolis (see Naples); it preserves in English the Greek name of the city. As an adjective from 1590s. As a type of ice cream, from 1871; originally meaning both "ice cream of three layers and flavors" and "ice cream made with eggs added to the cream before freezing." In early 18c., Neapolitan consolation meant "syphilis."