metropolis
UK /mɪˈtɹɒp.ə.lɪs/ · US /məˈtɹɑp.ə.lɪs/ noun, proper noun
Forms metropolises metropoleis metropoles metropolizes metropoli the Metropolis metropolisses metropolis's
- noun (history, especially Ancient Greece) The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.
- noun A large, busy city, especially as the main city in an area or country or as distinguished from surrounding rural areas.
- noun (Orthodox Christianity) The see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops.
- noun (ecology) A generic focus in the distribution of plants or animals.
- proper noun A city, the county seat of Massac County, Illinois, United States.
- proper noun A ghost town in Elko County, Nevada, United States.
- proper noun A classical city site in Anatolia (Turkey).
- proper noun (fiction) A fictional city serving as the primary setting for the Superman franchise, published by DC Comics.
- proper noun Nickname for New York City: a major city in New York, United States.
- proper noun (England, dated) Nickname for London: the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London.
Synonyms
mother city metropole metropolitan city archbishopric city urban center
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin mētropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”), from μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + πόλις (pólis, “city (state)”). By surface analysis, metro- + -polis. Doublet of metropole.
See English metropolis.
Webster’s 1913
- noun The mother city; the chief city of a kingdom, state, or country.
- noun The seat, or see, of the metropolitan, or highest church dignitary.
Etymology [L. metropolis, Gr. Mother, and Police.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “metropolis”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details