metropolis

See also Metropolis

English

Etymology

First attested in Middle English: from Late Latin mētropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”), from μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + πόλις (pólis, “city (state)”).

Pronunciation

• (RP) IPA: /mɪˈtɹɒpəlɪs/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

metropolis (plural metropolises or metropoleis)

1. (history) The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony, especially in the Ancient Greek/Hellenistic world.
2. A large, busy city, especially as the main city in an area or country or as distinguished from surrounding rural areas.
3. (canon law) The see of a metropolitan archbishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops.

Derived terms

Derived terms

metro metropole metropolitan

Synonyms

• (colony’s founding polis): mother city, metropole
• (metropolitan archbishop’s see): archbishopric

Translations

colony’s mother city

Dutch: metropolis, metropool (nl) m., moederstad Finnish: metropolis (fi)

Khmer: មាតុក្រុង (km) (mieto krong), ទីក្រុងមេ (km) (tii krong mei) Russian: столица (ru) (stolítsa) f., метрополия (ru) (metropólija) f.

large, busy city

Dutch: metropool (nl) m., grootstad, wereldstad Esperanto: urbego (eo) Finnish: metropoli (fi), suurkaupunki (fi)

Khmer: ទីក្រុងមេ (km) (tii krong mei), មាតុក្រុង (km) (mieto krong) Russian: мегаполис (ru)

metropolitan archbishop’s see

Dutch: metropool (nl) m.

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

French: métropole (fr) m. German: Metropole

Serbo-Croatian: velegrad (sr)

See also

• capital city

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Dutch

Noun

metropolis ? (plural metropolissen, ^??? please provide the diminutive!) m. and f.

1. A metropolis

Synonyms

• metropool m. and f.

Related terms

• metropoliet m.
• metropolitaans (adjective)

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Latin

Etymology

Late Latin, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “a city or mother state”), from μητρο- (mētro-, “mother-”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”).

Noun

mētropolis (genitive mētropolis); m, third declension

1. metropolis

Inflection

Number	Singular	Plural
nominative	mētropolis	mētropolēs
genitive	mētropolis	mētropolium
dative	mētropolī	mētropolibus
accusative	mētropolim mētropolem	mētropolīs mētropolēs
ablative	mētropolī mētropole	mētropolibus
vocative	mētropolis	mētropolēs

Derived terms

• mētropolītānus

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Serbo-Croatian

Noun

metròpolis m. (Cyrillic spelling метро̀полис)

1. A metropolis

Declension

    declension of metropolis

	singular	plural
nominative	metropolis	metropolisi
genitive	metropolisa	metropolisa
dative	metropolisu	metropolisima
accusative	metropolis	metropolise
vocative	metropolise	metropolisi
locative	metropolisu	metropolisima
instrumental	metropolisom	metropolisima