Etymology From megapolis + -itan; compare megalopolitan.
1
Of or pertaining to a megapolis (“a very large city or urban complex”).
Of the intellectual nature of Bosville, mention has been made already. It is, as we have seen, […] megapolitan, metropolitan, cosmopolitan,[…].1859 September, “Little Peddlington; otherwise Called Bosville”, in Timothy Flint, editor, The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, volume LIV, number 3 (number 633 overall), New York, N.Y.: John A. Gray, […]; London: John Chapman, […], →OCLC, page 299:
Is the school culture, that child of nineteenth-century Protestant laissez faire and rural America, of an emerging and industrial and urban society and of an economy of scarcity, relevant to the multi-ethnic, multi-racial, and multi-religious post-industrial society of today, with its metropolitan and megapolitan settlement pattern and its economy of affluence-with-poverty? Which culture does today's child really need to know?1974 April, Herbert J. Gans, “Mass Communications as an Educational Institution”, in Peter L. Klinge, editor, American Education in the Electric Age: New Perspectives on Media and Learning, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Educational Technology Publications, →ISBN, page 76:
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The nation's southernmost transcontinental Interstate, I-10, serves as the Gulf Coast's "Main Street." Every major city in the megapolitan area lies along its path. […] Megapolitan Areas are integrated networks of metropolitan and micropolitan areas.2006, Robert E. Lang, “Measuring Katrina’s Impact on the Gulf Megapolitan Area”, in Eugenie L. Birch, Susan M. Wachter, editors, Rebuilding Urban Places after Disaster: Lessons from Hurricane Katrina, Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press, →ISBN, part II (Returning Urban Places to Economic Viability), page 89:
In the US there are 10 megapolitan regions, defined as clustered networks of metropolitan regions that either have populations of more than 10 million or will exceed that number, on current growth projections, by 2010.2008, Lisa Benton-Short, John Rennie Short, “Contemporary Urbanization and Environmental Dynamics”, in Cities and Nature (Routledge Critical Introductions to Urbanism and the City), Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, part I (The Urban Environment in History), page 71:
The first step in creating megapolitan areas involved producing a map of the micropolitan and metropolitan counties. To be considered as a candidate for megapolitan inclusion, an area must be a string of contiguous metropolitan and micropolitan counties, uninterrupted by non-metropolitan counties.2009, Robert E. Lang, Arthur C. Nelson, “Megapolitan America: Defining and Applying a New Geography”, in Catherine L. Ross, editor, Megaregions: Planning for Global Competitiveness, Washington, D.C.: Island Press, →ISBN, page 116:
megapolitan
noun
Etymology From megapolis + -itan; compare megalopolitan.
1
Synonym of megapolis.
With developments already planned, within 20 years Buckeye is expected to become a metropolis nearly as large as Phoenix. And Phoenix will be expanding east and south, too, creating a Phoenix/Tucson megapolitan. A total of such 10 megapolitans with urban and residential construction linking today's central cities into new, huge megapolitans: […]2007, William F. Christopher, “The Viable System Model and Public and Environmental Responsibility”, in Holistic Management: Managing what Matters for Company Success, Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley-Interscience, →ISBN, pages 417–418:
In the United States, trans-metropolitan areas are referred to as megapolitans, large urban regions with physically interconnected metropolitan and micropolitan areas through transportation networks, constituting a functionally interdependent urban network[…].2011, Asli Ceylan Oner, “North American Cities in Globalization”, in Peter J[ames] Taylor, Pengfei Ni, Ben Derudder, Michael Hoyler, Jin Huang, Frank Witlox, editors, Global Urban Analysis: A Survey of Cities in Globalization, Abingdon, Oxon.; New York, N.Y.: Earthscan, →ISBN, page 149:
2
An inhabitant of a megapolis.
Megapolitan
adj
Etymology A variant of Megalopolitan; analysable as Megapolis + -itan. Megapolis is derived from Late Latin megapolis, from Ancient Greek μεγα- (mega-, “prefix meaning ‘large’”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”).
1
Of, pertaining to, or from the ancient city of Megalopolis (now Megalopoli) in Greece.
At length he [Antigonus III Doson] assaulted with his right wing the position of Eucleidas; and, favoured by an error of that general, and a timely charge of Philopœmen with the Megapolitan cavalry, gained a complete victory.1860, “SELLASIA”, in [Thomas Stewart Traill], editor, The Encyclopædia Britannica, or Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, 8th edition, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, & Co., →OCLC, page 42, column 1:
The upshot is, we are guided by a party of shock-headed Arcadians, who are going in the direction of the excavations, and a Megapolitan boy who has probably an eye to gain.1902 January, H. R. James, “Art. V.—Across the Peloponnesus.”, in The Calcutta Review, volume CXIV, number CCXXVII, Calcutta: Printed & published by the City Press, […], Messrs. Thacker, Spink & Co., […]; Madras: Messrs. Higginbotham & Co.; London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., Ld., […], →OCLC, section III (Karytæna and Megalopolis), page 51:
Megapolitan
noun
Etymology A variant of Megalopolitan; analysable as Megapolis + -itan. Megapolis is derived from Late Latin megapolis, from Ancient Greek μεγα- (mega-, “prefix meaning ‘large’”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”).
1
An inhabitant of the ancient city of Megalopolis (now Megalopoli) in Greece.
The Megapolitans whoſe City did abide the ſiege, were compelled to pay as a fine for their rebellion twenty talents to the Athenians, and the Æolians.1670, Quintus Curtius Rufus, “The Sixth Book of Quintus Curtius. Of the Acts of Alexander the Great, King of Macedon.”, in Robert Codrington, transl., The Life and Death of Alexander the Great, King of Macedon. In Ten Books, […], London: Printed for Tho[mas] Johnson for Samuel Speed, […], →OCLC, page 213:
The Lacedæmonians, in Conjunction with the Phocenſes, make War with the Megapolitans, Thebans and Argives. After ſeveral Battles, in which both ſides are ſometimes ſucceſsful, and at other times unſucceſsful, a Truce is concluded between the Lacedæmonians and Megapolitans.1709, Lewis Ellis du Pin [i.e., Louis Ellies Dupin], “Sect. XXXV. An Abridgment of the History of the Time between Xerxes and Alexander the Great, Extracted from Diodorus Siculus. [Olympiad CVII. 1st Year. Aristodemus Archon.]”, in The Universal Library of Historians; (viz.) The Oriental, Greek, Latin, French, German, Spanish, Italian, English, and Others. […], volume II, London: Printed for R. Bonwicke [et al.], →OCLC, page 159:
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When, therefore, the above-mentioned request for help from the Megapolitans reached Athens in 352, Demosthenes expressed himself in favour of complying with it, especially emphasizing the necessity of not allowing Sparta to become too powerful.1896, Adolf Holm; [Frederick Clarke, transl.], “The Sacred War—Beginning of Demosthenes’ Career (356–352)”, in The History of Greece from Its Commencement to the Close of the Independence of the Greek Nation … Translated from the German: In Four Volumes, volume III (The 4th century B.C. up to the Death of Alexander), London: Macmillan and Co., Limited; New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, page 238: