Where does “metro” come from?
Metro comes from French métro, short for French métropolitain, which derives from Latin metropolis, from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις, combining Ancient Greek μήτηρ (mother) and πόλις (city).
metro (English): An underground railway; A train that runs on such...
Definitions
- An underground railway; A train that runs on such...
Ancestry of “metro”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | métro | subway , underground , Tube; Someone from... |
| 2 | French | métropolitain | metropolitan; subway, underground; Person from... |
| 3 | Latin | mētropolītānus | — |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | μητροπολίτης | — |
| 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 |
Words derived from “metro”