metropolis Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a large and densely populated urban area; may include several independent administrative districts
    city; urban center.
    • Ancient Troy was a great city
  2. noun people living in a large densely populated municipality
    city.
    • the city voted for Republicans in 1994

WordNet

Me*trop"o*lis noun
Etymology
L. metropolis, Gr. , prop., the mother city (in relation to colonies); mother + city. See Mother, and Police.
Definitions
  1. The mother city; the chief city of a kingdom, state, or country.
    [Edinburgh] gray metropolis of the North. Tennyson.
  2. (Eccl.) The seat, or see, of the metropolitan, or highest church dignitary.
    The great metropolis and see of Rome. Shak.

Webster 1913