Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • An ancient city of southern Italy southeast of Naples. Founded in the sixth or early fifth century BC, it was a Roman colony by 80 BC and became a prosperous port and resort with many noted villas, temples, theaters, and baths. Pompeii was destroyed by an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The incredibly well-preserved ruins were rediscovered in 1748 and have been extensively excavated.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • proper noun A ruined Roman town in Italy, destroyed by Vesuvius (a volcano) in 79AD

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun ancient city to the southeast of Naples that was buried by a volcanic eruption from Vesuvius

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin Pompeii.

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