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