Science Fair Project Encyclopedia

Metropolitan

When the word metropolitan (from the Greek metera = mother and polis = town) is used as an adjective, as in metropolitan bishop, metropolitan France, or metropolitan area it can mean:
- of or characteristic of a metropolis; see also metropolitan area
- of or belonging to the home territories of a country, as opposed to overseas territories (example: metropolitan France)
- of, relating to, or designating an ecclesiastical metropolis (example: metropolitan bishop)

When it is used as a noun, it can mean:
- A metropolitan bishop (thus one may write "Alexius became Metropolitan of Kiev in 1354"; including the word bishop in such a sentence would be unusual),
- A Metropolitan, a car originally known as the Nash Metropolitan, or
- A Metropolitan Railway, commonly known as a Subway, Metro, Underground or U-Bahn (though, this meaning generally is used in Romantic languages).

09-23-2007 01:00:40
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