Spanish capital, of unknown origin; first attested 932 as Majerit. Adjectival form is Madrilenian. Noun meaning "person or thing from Madrid" is Madrileño, Madrileña.
Swiss capital, probably originally from PIE *ber- "marshy place," but by folk etymology from German Bär "bear" (compare Berlin). Related: Bernese.
c. 1400, from Latin ficus "fig, fig tree" (see fig). With capital letter, as the name of a large genus of trees and shrubs, chosen by Linnaeus (1753).
capital of Ireland, literally "black pool," from Irish dubh "black" + linn "pool." In reference to the dark waters of the River Liffey. Related: Dubliner.
1680s, "republican principles; a republican form of government," from republican (adj.) + -ism. With capital R-, in reference to the modern U.S. Republican Party by 1856.
also Teheran, Iranian capital, said to mean "flat, level, lower," but sometimes derived from Old Persian teh "warm" + ran "place."
mid-14c., "bishop having general superintendency over other bishops of his province," from Late Latin metropolitanus, from Greek metropolis "mother city" (from which others have been colonized), parent state of a colony," also "capital city," and, in Ecclesiastical Greek, "see of a metropolitan bishop," from meter "mother" (see mother (n.1)) + polis "city" (see polis).
In the early church, the bishop of a municipal capital of a province or eparchy, who had general superintendence over the bishops in his province. In modern Catholic use, an archbishop who has bishops under his authority; in the Greek church still the bishop of a municipal capital of a province, ranking above an archbishop.
