metropolis

me·trop·o·lis

Use metropolis in a sentence

Manhattan is a metropolis.

noun

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

An example of a metropolis is Manhattan, New York.

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"metropolis." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/metropolis>.

APA Style

metropolis. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/metropolis

metropolis

the main city, often the capital, of a country, state, or region
any large city or center of population, culture, etc.
in ancient Greece, the mother city or state of a colony

Origin of metropolis

Late Latin from Classical Greek m?tropolis from m?t?r, mother + polis, a state, city: see police

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MLA Style

"metropolis." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/metropolis>.

APA Style

metropolis. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/metropolis

metropolis

noun

A major city, especially the chief city of a country or region: Chicago, the metropolis of the Midwest.
A city or an urban area regarded as the center of a specific activity: a great cultural metropolis.
Ecclesiastical The chief see of a metropolitan bishop.
The mother city or country of an overseas colony, especially in ancient Greece.

Origin of metropolis

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

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"metropolis." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 17 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/metropolis>.

APA Style

metropolis. (n.d.). Retrieved December 17th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/metropolis

Noun

(plural metropolises or metropoleis)

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

Origin

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

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.