adj.
- relating to or denoting a metropolis.
- relating to or denoting the parent state of a colony.
- Christian Church relating to or denoting a metropolitan or his see.
n.
- an inhabitant of a metropolis.
- Christian Church a bishop having authority over the bishops of a province, in particular (in Orthodox Churches) one ranking above archbishop and below patriarch.
Etymology
ME (in the eccles. sense): from late L. metropolitanus, from Gk mētropolitēs ‘citizen of a mother state’, from mētropolis (see metropolis).