Spanish word

metro

Pronunciation

IPA/ˈmetɾo/

Meaning

  • masculine nounsubway

Example

Voy a tomar el metro para ir al trabajo.

I'm going to take the subway to work.

Illustration for metro (subway)

More examples

¿Cuánto cuesta un billete de metro en esta ciudad?

How much does a subway ticket cost in this city?

Core concept

Underground urban rail network of lines and stations for fast city travel.

Common phrases

  • tomar el metro

    take the subway

  • estación de metro

    subway station

  • billete de metro

    subway ticket

Similar words

subterráneo: Underground rail line or system spoken of in formal or neutral contexts.
subte: Informal Argentine name for the city's subway used in everyday speech.

Definition in Spanish

Conjunto de líneas y estaciones de tren que permiten el transporte rápido de personas dentro de una ciudad, frecuentemente bajo tierra.

Word origin

From French métro, a shortening of métropolitain meaning 'metropolitan', coined for Paris's late 19th-century urban railway.

Usage tips

  • The same word metro also denotes the unit 'meter' in Spanish, so the article and context distinguish the transport sense (el metro for the system, un metro for a length).

Other meanings

  • meternoun

Related words

Word lists with this word