Etymology Explorer › French

Where does “métro” come from?

métro (French) comes 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, from Proto-Indo-European tpelH- — fortification, city.

métro (French): subway , underground , Tube; Someone from...

Definitions

  1. subway , underground , Tube; Someone from...

Ancestry of “métro”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmétropolitainmetropolitan; subway, underground; Person from...
2Latinmētropolītānus—
3Ancient Greekμητροπολίτης—
4Ancient Greekμητρόπολιςmother-state; one's mother-city, mother country,...
5Ancient Greekπόλιςcity; a whole country, as dependent on and called...
6Proto-Hellenicptóliscity
7Proto-Indo-EuropeantpólHis—
8Proto-Indo-EuropeantpelH-fortification, city

Words derived from “métro”

  • metro
  • nonmetro
  • MetroCard
  • метро
  • メトロ
  • metro
  • metrohalte
  • metro
  • μετρό
  • metrou
  • मेट्रो
  • metro
Every word from Proto-Indo-European tpelH- →