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
metro traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.
via French métro
| 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 |
via English metropolitan
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | metropolitan | A bishop empowered to oversee other bishops; an... |
| 2 | Late Latin | metropolitanus | metropolitan |
via Indonesian Metro
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Indonesian | Metro | — |