Metropolis

Metropolis

Noun · /mɪˈtrɒp.ə.lɪs/

Definition

A large, important, or busy city, especially the main city of a country or region; a centre of commercial or cultural activity; the chief or capital city.

Origin

From Latin metropolis (chief city, capital), from Greek mētropolis, from mētēr (mother) + polis (city). The Greek mētropolis literally meant mother city — the city that founded colonies in the ancient world. Athens was the mother city to many colonies around the Aegean and Black Sea. The same mētēr root gives matrix, material, and maternal; the same polis root gives politics, police, policy, metropolis, cosmopolitan, and acropolis.