metropolis
Syllables: me·tro·po·lisUK/mɪˈtɹɒp.ə.lɪs//məˈtɹɑp.ə.lɪs/
metropolis noun: the mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.
Noun
metropolis (plural metropolises or metropoleis or metropoles or metropolizes or metropoli or (obsolete) metropolisses or (obsolete) metropolis's)
- The mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.
- Colonies certainly did not become "clones" of their metropolises, but it is equally false that their colonial heritages were not influenced by the organization of the metropolises.2010, James Mahoney, Colonialism and Postcolonial Development: Spanish America in Comparative Perspective
- Synonyms:
- mother city, metropole
- A large, busy city, especially as the main city in an area or country or as distinguished from surrounding rural areas.
- Holonym: metropolitan area
- An immense metropolis, like London, is calculated to make men selfish and uninteresting.1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rural Life in England
- Synonyms:
- metropolitan city
- The see of a metropolitan bishop, ranking above its suffragan diocesan bishops.
- Synonyms:
- archbishopric
- A generic focus in the distribution of plants or animals.
Proper noun (1) capitalized: Metropolis
Metropolis
- A city, the county seat of Massac County, Illinois, United States.
- A ghost town in Elko County, Nevada, United States.
- A classical city site in Anatolia (Turkey).
- A fictional city serving as the primary setting for the Superman franchise, published by DC Comics.
- My city need a hero, so I treat it like Metropolis / And it's a few bad Lois Lanes I can't name2012, “Higher”, in Detroit, performed by Big Sean
- Nickname for New York City: a major city in New York, United States.
Proper noun (2) capitalized: Metropolis
the Metropolis
- Nickname for London: the capital city of the United Kingdom; the capital city of England, within Greater London.
- The journey from our town to the metropolis, was a journey of about five hours.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter I, in Great Expectations […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 1
metropolis meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
metropolis in Hindi
- metropolis, megacity, megalopolis
- महानगर mahānagar
metropolis in Tamil
- நாட்டின் தலை நகரம், பெருநகர்
metropolis in Marathi
- large, busy city
- महानगर mahāngar
metropolis in Urdu
- بڑا شہر
More languagesFewer languages
- metropolis in Bengali
- নগর nogor
- metropolis in Telugu
- మెట్రోపాలిస్
- metropolis in Malayalam
- തലസ്ഥാനം, രാജധാനി, പ്രവർത്തനകേന്ദ്രം, ഇടവകയിലെ ആസ്ഥാനനഗരം
- metropolis in Kannada
- ಮಹಾನಗರ mahānagara
- metropolis in Punjabi
- ਮੈਟਰੋਪੋਲਿਸ
- metropolis in Gujarati
- મેટ્રોપોલિસ, મેટ્રોપોલીસ
- metropolis in Odia
- ମେଟ୍ରୋପୋଲିସ୍
- metropolis in Assamese
- মহানগৰ môhanôgôr
- metropolis in Nepali
- मेट्रोपोलिस
- metropolis in Tagalog
- metropoli, daklunsod
- metropolis in Arabic
- حَاضِرَة ḥāḍira
- metropolis in Indonesian
- kota raya
- metropolis in Persian
- متروپل metropol, کلانشهر kalânšahr
- metropolis in Vietnamese
- siêu đô thị
Examples of metropolis in a sentence
- Love is dead in metropolis / All contact through glove or partition1983, “Sleeper in Metropolis”, in Changing Places, performed by Anne Clark:
- They call me the Hiphopopotamus / Flows that glow like phosphorous / Popping off the top of this esophagus / Rocking this metropolis2008, “Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros”, performed by Flight of the Conchords:
Synonyms of metropolis
Forms of metropolis
| plural | metropolises |
|---|---|
| plural | metropoleis |
| plural | metropoles |
| plural | metropolizes |
| plural | metropoli |
| plural (obsolete) | metropolisses |
| plural (obsolete) | metropolis's |
Origin of metropolis
Borrowed from Late Latin mētropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”), from μήτηρ (mḗtēr, “mother”) + πόλις (pólis, “city (state)”). By surface analysis, metro- + -polis. Doublet of metropole.
See English metropolis.
Words formed from metropolis
Phrases with metropolis
Questions about metropolis
- What does metropolis mean?
- Metropolis means the mother (founding) polis (city state) of a colony.
- What is metropolis in Hindi?
- Metropolis in Hindi is महानगर (mahānagar). See Metropolis meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use metropolis in a sentence?
- Love is dead in metropolis / All contact through glove or partition
- What part of speech is metropolis?
- Metropolis can be a noun or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce metropolis?
- Metropolis is pronounced /mɪˈtɹɒp.ə.lɪs/ (UK).
- What is the plural of metropolis?
- The plural of metropolis is metropolises.
Words near metropolis in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: metropolis (page history and authors); Metropolis (page history and authors); महानगर (Hindi) (page history and authors); metropolis (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); metropolis (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); নগর (Bengali) (page history and authors); metropolis (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolis (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); ಮಹಾನಗರ (Kannada) (page history and authors); metropolis (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolis (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); metropolis (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); মহানগৰ (Assamese) (page history and authors); metropolis (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-metropolis.ogg.
Cite this entry: “metropolis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/metropolis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.