Dictionary

metropolis en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /məˈtɹɑp.ə.lɪs/ (General-American)
• /mɪˈtɹɒp.ə.lɪs/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (US) audio

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.

Meanings

1. (qualifier:especially Ancient Greece) The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.
   • Colonies certainly did not become "clones" of their metropolises, but it is equally false that their colonial heritages were not influenced by the organization of the metropolises. 2010, James Mahoney, Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective:
2. A large, busy city, especially as the main city in an area or country or as distinguished from surrounding rural areas.
   • [I]t would not be very much less absurd for someone to write about New York City after having spent only a few years or a few decades in this metropolis of inexhaustible adventure, of terrifying emotional fecundity, of uncapturable character. 1946, George Johnston, Skyscrapers in the Mist, page 52:
   • Love is dead in metropolis / All contact through glove or partition 1983, “Sleeper in Metropolis”, in Changing Places, performed by Anne Clark:
   • They call me the Hiphopopotamus / Flows that glow like phosphorous / Popping off the top of this esophagus / Rocking this metropolis 2008, “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros”, performed by Flight of the Conchords:
   • An immense metropolis, like London, is calculated to make men selfish and uninteresting. 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rural Life in England:
   • Holonym: metropolitan area
3. (qualifier:Orthodox Christianity) The see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops.
4. A generic focus in the distribution of plants or animals.

Forms

Coordinates

capital city

Deriveds

metro · metropolize · minimetropolis · aerotropolis · Metropolis · metropolitan · metropole · Metropolis of Lyon

Relateds

regiopolis · megalopolis

Synonyms

mother city · metropole · archbishopric · metropolitan city

Translations (113)

ca metròpoli (colony’s mother city) · mk велеград (large, busy city) · et suurlinn (large, busy city) · de Weltstadt (large, busy city) · id kota raya (large, busy city) · el μητρόπολη (large, busy city) · sl metropola (large, busy city) · hu anyaország (colony’s mother city) · da moderby (colony’s mother city) · sh метро̀пола (colony’s mother city) · mk метропола (colony’s mother city) · fi emäkaupunki (colony’s mother city) · ja メトロポリス (large, busy city) · sh metròpolis (large, busy city) · sv storstad (large, busy city) · sh vȅlegrād (large, busy city) · cmn 大城市 (large, busy city) · pt metrópole (large, busy city) · cmn 大都市 (large, busy city) · ko 메트로폴리스 (large, busy city) · km មាតុក្រុង (colony’s mother city) · pl metropolia (colony’s mother city) · ar حَاضِرَة (colony’s mother city) · sh метро̀пола (large, busy city) · da metropol (large, busy city) · bg мегапо́лис (large, busy city) · nl moederstad (colony’s mother city) · is stórborg (large, busy city) · uk метропо́лія (colony’s mother city) · uk митропо́лія (see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops) · nl metropool (large, busy city) · bg метро́полис (large, busy city) · sh ве̏легра̄д (large, busy city) · da storby (large, busy city) · fi metropoli (large, busy city) · fi metropoliittakunta (see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops) · hu nagyváros (large, busy city) · mk метропола (large, busy city) · de Metropole (large, busy city) · ru столи́ца (colony’s mother city) · lv metropole (colony’s mother city) · la metropolis (colony’s mother city) · km ទីក្រុងមេ (colony’s mother city) · ca metròpolis (colony’s mother city) · fa متروپل (large, busy city) · ca metròpoli (large, busy city) · et metropol (colony’s mother city) · vo metropoel (colony’s mother city) · ru метропо́лия (large, busy city) · mr महानगर (large, busy city) · pl metropolia (large, busy city) · sh metròpola (large, busy city) · ko 대도시 (large, busy city) · km មាតុក្រុង (large, busy city) · pl metropolia (see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops) · uk мегапо́ліс (large, busy city) · fa کلانشهر (large, busy city) · sq metropol (large, busy city) · pt metrópole (colony’s mother city) · sq metropol (colony’s mother city) · kmr metropol (colony’s mother city) · nl grootstad (large, busy city) · es metrópolis (large, busy city) · ka მეტროპოლია (colony’s mother city) · cmn 都市 (large, busy city) · el μητρόπολη (colony’s mother city) · hu metropolisz (colony’s mother city) · ja 大都会 (large, busy city) · fr métropole (large, busy city) · eo urbego (large, busy city) · fi suurkaupunki (large, busy city) · ca metròpolis (large, busy city) · ru мегапо́лис (large, busy city) · uk метро́поліс (large, busy city) · cs velkoměsto (large, busy city) · sh метро̀полис (large, busy city) · bg метропо́лия (colony’s mother city) · ro metropolă (large, busy city) · ru метропо́лия (colony’s mother city) · be мітрапо́лія (see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops) · tl daklunsod (large, busy city) · es urbe (large, busy city) · ru центр (large, busy city) · cmn 大都會 /大都会 (large, busy city) · ru митропо́лия (see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops) · tr metropol (colony’s mother city) · fr métropole (colony’s mother city) · ga ceannchathair (colony’s mother city) · be метрапо́лія (colony’s mother city) · it metropoli (large, busy city) · km ទីក្រុងមេ (large, busy city) · nl wereldstad (large, busy city) · lv metropole (large, busy city) · es metrópoli (large, busy city) · nl metropolis (colony’s mother city) · kmr metropol (large, busy city) · sv metropol (large, busy city) · hu metropolisz (large, busy city) · nb metropol (colony’s mother city) · nl metropool (colony’s mother city) · ga ceannchathair (large, busy city) · sh metròpola (colony’s mother city) · ja 大都市 (large, busy city) · ro metropolă (colony’s mother city) · tl metropoli (colony’s mother city) · be мэтрапо́лiя (colony’s mother city) · be мегапо́ліс (large, busy city) · tr metropol (large, busy city) · vi siêu đô thị (large, busy city) · sk veľkomesto (large, busy city) · eo metropolo (colony’s mother city) · he מֶטְרוֹפּוֹלִין (large, busy city) · fi metropolis (colony’s mother city)