Metropolis definition

mĭ-trŏpə-lĭs

A major city, especially the chief city of a country or region.

Chicago, the metropolis of the Midwest.

noun

Any large city or center of population, culture, etc.

noun

In ancient Greece, the mother city or state of a colony.

noun

(history) The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony, especially in the Ancient Greek/Hellenistic world.

noun

A large, busy city, especially as the main city in an area or country or as distinguished from surrounding rural areas.

noun

(canon law) The see of a metropolitan archbishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops.

noun

The definition of a metropolis is a large or main city.

An example of a metropolis is Manhattan, New York.

noun

A city or an urban area regarded as the center of a specific activity.

A great cultural metropolis.

noun

(ecclesiastical) The chief see of a metropolitan bishop.

noun

The mother city or country of an overseas colony, especially in ancient Greece.

noun

The main city, often the capital, of a country, state, or region.

noun

Other Word Forms

Singular:

metropolis

Plural:

metropolia, metropolises

Middle English metropol from Late Latin mētropolis mother-city from Greek mētēr mētr- mother māter- in Indo-European roots polis city pelə-³ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
First attested in Middle English: from Late Latin mētropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”), from μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + πόλις (pólis, “city (state)”).

From Wiktionary