Pompeii

//pɑːmˈpeɪ(i)// name

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Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A ruined Roman town in Italy, destroyed by Vesuvius (a volcano) in AD 79.
  2. 2
    A city and commune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy.

Example

More examples

"The eruption of the volcano Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii."

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Pompeiī, of Oscan origin, from Oscan 𐌐𐌖𐌌𐌐𐌄 (pumpe, “five”) + the Latin name-forming suffix -eiī, a reference to its five districts. Related to cinque, five, pimp (“five”), ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.