metropolitaner

Metropolitaner is a term used in several languages to refer to metropolitan bishops or, more broadly, to things pertaining to a metropolis. As a noun, it most often appears as a plural form for a designation in ecclesiastical contexts, indicating multiple metropolitans—the senior bishops who preside over metropolitan sees within a church province. The exact form and usage of metropolitaner can vary by language and tradition, but it is commonly encountered in reference works that discuss church hierarchies.

Etymology and meaning arise from the word metropolis, which derives from Greek roots meaning “mother city.” The ecclesiastical sense centers on a metropolitan bishop who has jurisdiction over a metropolis and a metropolitan province, often with a higher rank than provincial bishops.

In addition to its religious sense, some languages use metropolitaner as a plural or inflected form of metropolitan to describe things related to a metropolis, such as metropolitan areas or urban regions. The specific grammatical usage, including pluralization rules and plural form, is language-dependent.

Because the term spans both ecclesiastical and secular contexts, its interpretation relies on the surrounding text. In English-language discussions, the comparable terms are metropolitan (adjective) or metropolitans (plural noun for multiple metropolitan bishops). In other languages, metropolitaner may appear as the standard plural form for similar concepts.

See also: metropolis, metropolitan, metropolitans, metropolitan area.