Where does “metro” come from?
metro (Dutch) comes from French métro, from French métropolitain, from Latin mētropolītānus, from Ancient Greek μητροπολίτης, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις, from Ancient Greek πόλις, from Proto-Hellenic ptólis, from Proto-Indo-European tpólHis — fortification, city.
metro (Dutch): An underground railway or underground-railway...
Definitions
- An underground railway or underground-railway...
Ancestry of “metro”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | métro | metro; subway US, underground UK, Tube UK |
| 2 | French | métropolitain | metropolitan; subway, underground; Person from... |
| 3 | Latin | mētropolītānus | metropolitan |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μητροπολίτης | metropolitan |
| 5 | Ancient Greek | μητρόπολις | mother-state; one's mother-city, mother country,... |
| 6 | Ancient Greek | πόλις | city; a whole country, as dependent on and called... |
| 7 | Proto-Hellenic | ptólis | city |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | tpólHis | — |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | tpelH- | fortification, city |