Meaning & use
Constantinople
Last updated
Meaning
proper nounproper
The old name for the city now called Istanbul, which was the capital of the Byzantine and Ottoman empires.
Grammar: Always capitalized, with no article: the fall of Constantinople.
Patterns
- the fall of Constantinople
Constantinople fell to the Ottoman army in 1453.
Merchants carried silk to Constantinople.
The emperor ruled from Constantinople.
Common combinations
- fall of Constantinople
- The fall of Constantinople ended the Byzantine Empire.
- siege of Constantinople
- The siege of Constantinople lasted weeks.
- walls of Constantinople
- The walls of Constantinople were famous.
- capital at Constantinople
- Rome moved its capital to Constantinople.
- Istanbul, formerly Constantinople
- Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, spans two continents.
Synonyms and how they differ
- Byzantium
- Byzantium is the older Greek name for the city and is used for the earlier city before Constantine.
- Istanbul
- Istanbul is the modern name of the same city, used today.
- the Eastern capital
- A descriptive phrase, not a real name.
Word family
- Constantine proper noun
- the Roman emperor who founded the city
- Byzantine adjective
- relating to the empire centered on the city
- Istanbul proper noun
- the modern name
- Constantinopolitan adjective
- of or from Constantinople
Commonly confused: Constantinople or Constantine? Constantinople or Istanbul?
Constantinople vs Constantine
Constantine is a man, the emperor; Constantinople is the city he named after himself.
Constantinople vs Istanbul
It is the same place; use Constantinople for the history before 1930.
Practice
Which modern city was once called Constantinople?
Choose one answer.
Constantinople is the earlier name for Istanbul. The other cities have always had separate names.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “Constantinople”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.