metropolis

[mi-trop-uh-lis]

noun

plural

metropolises 

1. any large, busy city.

2. the chief, and sometimes capital, city of a country, state, or region.

3. a central or principal place, as of some activity.

   the music metropolis of France.

4. the mother city or parent state of a colony, especially of an ancient Greek colony.

5. the chief see of an ecclesiastical province.

metropolis

/ mɪˈtrɒpəlɪs /

noun

1. the main city, esp of a country or region; capital

2. a centre of activity

3. the chief see in an ecclesiastical province

Word History and Origins

Origin of metropolis¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Late Latin mētropolis < Greek mētrópolis a mother state or city, equivalent to mētro-, combining form of mḗtēr mother ¹ + pólis -polis, polis

Word History and Origins

Origin of metropolis¹

C16: from Late Latin from Greek: mother city or state, from mētēr mother + polis city

Example Sentences

She had expected London to be a glittering metropolis full of culture and learning.

Read more on Literature

As Southern California transformed from frontier to metropolis, the desert changed from obstacle to destination.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

That part of the state would not constitute an urban metropolis anywhere else in the U.S., but it is a drastically different world than the one Platner is fighting for.

Read more on Salon

“The Best Years of Our Lives” centers on three G.I.s who meet on their circuitous way home to Boone City, the fictional Midwest metropolis that’s the movie’s setting.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

Hundreds of thousands of Los Angeles Dodgers fans turned the city into a sea of blue of Monday as the California metropolis saluted the baseball giants' back-to-back World Series titles.

Read more on Barron's

Related Words

• capital 
• downtown 
• municipality