métro

Forms

métro m (plural métros)^[1]

Etymology

It is a clipping from French métropolitain, shortened from the phrase for “metropolitan railway” (1873), which was itself reduced to the capitalised noun in 1874.^[2][3][1] Rey thinks it very probably an anglicism modelled on English metropolitan railway “urban railway”, used first of London and then of Paris.^[3] The adjective was borrowed from Late Latin metropolitanus, from metropolis, which is from Ancient Greek μητρόπολις (mētrópolis, “mother city”).^[2][3]

The noun for a person from mainland France is also a clipping of the same adjective, in its sense “of the metropolis (as opposed to the colonies)”, recorded before 1939.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Métro is first recorded in Le Charivari of 10 July 1891, for the city railway, before such a system had even been built in Paris.^[2][5][3]

Semantic evolution

The word is very common and carries overtones of city life, crowding and the tiring journey to work, summed up in the slogan métro, boulot, dodo.^[3][4] The phrase avoir un métro de retard means “to be behind the times, slow to catch on”.^[3][1]

In the French of the overseas departments (the Antilles, Réunion…), métro is a familiar word for a person from mainland France, recorded before 1939.^[3][6] In French-speaking Africa it was also a familiar name for the French franc, as opposed to the CFA franc.^[6] English borrowed the word for the Paris underground in 1904.^[7]

Timeline

• 1873 – Chemin de fer métropolitain is recorded.^[2][3]
• 1874 – Le Métropolitain is used as a noun.^[2][3]
• 1891 – Métro appears in Le Charivari.^[2][5]
• Before 1939 – Métro “person from mainland France” is recorded overseas.^[3][4]
• 1904 – English Metro for the Paris underground.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. An underground or subway, an electric railway running wholly or partly underground and serving a large city: prendre le métro, une station de métro.^[4][8][1]
2. A metro train or the metro system: attendre le dernier métro.^[8][9]
3. (overseas France, familiar) A person from mainland France.^[4][6][1]
4. (Africa, familiar, dated) The French franc, as opposed to the CFA franc.^[6]

Related words

• métropolitain
• métropole

Usage notes

Métro, boulot, dodo (“metro, work, sleep”) is a slogan for the monotony of a city worker's life.^[4][3] Avoir un métro de retard or plusieurs métros de retard is “to be behind (in a development or an argument)”.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
9. ^ Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org