I am fully aware that there is no exact definition of the transit system in question, and there may be some dispute about what qualifies as one and what does not.
“Metropolitan” means something that is “of the metropolis”. Metropolis in turn comes from Greek meaning “mother city”; in ancient Greece, most cities were independent states, but the largest of them might create new settlements beyond their original borders, so they were “mother cities” in the very literal sense of the word, but later the word started to mean any big city.
Many “Metropolitan railways”, including the original one in Paris, have been officially
shortened to metros, and most of those that haven’t are unofficially called so anyway.
We call it “metro” in Bulgaria as well.
Although officially called the underground, I move that London should be labelled “Tube”
[deleted]
Metropoliten is the name of the company that owns the metro. Everyone calls it metro.
6 comments
I am fully aware that there is no exact definition of the transit system in question, and there may be some dispute about what qualifies as one and what does not.
“Metropolitan” means something that is “of the metropolis”. Metropolis in turn comes from Greek meaning “mother city”; in ancient Greece, most cities were independent states, but the largest of them might create new settlements beyond their original borders, so they were “mother cities” in the very literal sense of the word, but later the word started to mean any big city.
Many “Metropolitan railways”, including the original one in Paris, have been officially
shortened to metros, and most of those that haven’t are unofficially called so anyway.
We call it “metro” in Bulgaria as well.
Although officially called the underground, I move that London should be labelled “Tube”
[deleted]
Metropoliten is the name of the company that owns the metro. Everyone calls it metro.