subway: , Metro, with an automatic railway control system and 600-foot- (183-metre-) long underground coffered-vault stations, opened its first subway line in 1976. Other features of modern subway construction include air-conditioned trains with lightweight aluminum cars, smoother and faster rides due to refinements in track construction and…

Spanish literature: The novel: …turned later to the novel; El metro de platino iradiado (1990; “The Metre of Irradiated Platinum”) is considered by many his masterpiece. He was elected to the Spanish Academy in 2004. Tomeo is an Aragonese essayist, dramatist, and novelist whose works, with their strange, solitary characters, emphasize that “normal” is…

Metauro River, river, Marche region, central Italy, rising in the Etruscan Apennines (Appennino Tosco-Emiliano) and flowing for 68 mi (109 km) east-northeast into the Adriatic Sea just south of Fano. The lower valley of the river (the ancient Metaurus) was the scene of a great Roman victory over

Toronto Zoo, zoological park in West Hill, Ontario, Canada, which ranks as one of the largest zoos in the world. The 287-hectare (710-acre) park was opened in 1974 by the municipality of Toronto and the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society. It replaced the overcrowded and outdated municipal

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. (MGM), American corporation that was once the world’s largest and most profitable motion-picture studio. The studio reached its peak in the 1930s and ’40s. During those years MGM had under contract at various times such outstanding screen personalities as Greta Garbo, John

Metrocles was a Cynic philosopher and the first philosopher known to have made a collection of instructive anecdotes and sayings, a common form of literary activity among later moralists. After studying under the Peripatetic philosopher Theophrastus, he became dissatisfied with his teacher and

construction: Postwar developments in long-span construction: …in Pontiac, Michigan, and the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome (1982) in Minneapolis. Air-supported structures are perhaps the most cost-effective type of structure for very long spans.

Western painting: Etruscan and Hellenistic Greek influences: …the Battle of Pydna, employed Metrodorus, an Athenian painter, to execute panels depicting events in his victorious campaign. It is significant, perhaps, that Metrodorus was a philosopher as well as a painter and that he was also employed by Paullus in educating his children. Tradition states that Demetrius, an Alexandrian…

Epicureanism: Doctrine of Epicurus: Thus, Epicurus’s most distinguished pupil, Metrodorus of Lampsacus, could exclaim, “bebiōtai” (“I have lived”), and this would be quite enough. He who has conquered the fear of death can also despise pain, which “if it is long lasting is light, and if it is intense is short” and brings death…

railroad: Advances in traction systems: …Railroad with its electrically operated Metroliners and the New Haven Railroad diesel-electric Turbotrains began running, and since 2000 Amtrak has run its electric Acela Express trains between Boston and Washington. The Metroliners (phased out in 2006) attained speeds of 200 km (125 miles) per hour in the best sections, while…

metrology, the science of measurement. From three fundamental quantities, length, mass, and time, all other mechanical quantities—e.g., area, volume, acceleration, and power—can be derived. A comprehensive system of practical measurement should include at least three other bases, taking in the

Alexis Piron: …epigrams and for his comedy La Métromanie (1738; “The Poetry Craze”).

foot, in verse, the smallest metrical unit of measurement. The prevailing kind and number of feet, revealed by scansion, determines the metre of a poem. In classical (or quantitative) verse, a foot, or metron, is a combination of two or more long and short syllables. A short syllable is known as an

antiprotozoal drug: Metronidazole is usually given orally for the treatment of vaginal infections caused by Trichomonas vaginalis, and it is effective in treating bacterial infections caused by anaerobes (organisms that can survive without oxygen). It affects these organisms by causing nicks in, or breakage of, strands of…

metronome, device for marking musical tempo, erroneously ascribed to the German Johann Nepomuk Maelzel (1772–1838) but actually invented by a Dutch competitor, Dietrich Nikolaus Winkel (c. 1776–1826). As originally developed, the metronome consisted of a pendulum swung on a pivot and actuated by a

Metrophanes Kritopoulos was a Greek Orthodox patriarch of Alexandria, Egypt, and theologian whose discussions with European Protestants concluded with his writing an exposition of Eastern Orthodox doctrine in an attempt at Christian unity. After becoming a monk at Mt. Athos, Greece, Kritopoulos in

Mississippi River: Hydrology: At Metropolis, Illinois, just above the confluence with the Mississippi, the greatest monthly discharge is usually recorded in March, at which time the Ohio may be providing more than three-fifths of the water being monitored past Vicksburg in the lower river.

Metropolis, German silent film, released in 1927, featuring director Fritz Lang’s vision of a grim futuristic society and containing some of the most impressive images in film history. (Read Lillian Gish’s 1929 Britannica essay on silent film.) The great future city of Metropolis in the film is

metropolitan area, a major city together with its suburbs and nearby cities, towns, and environs over which the major city exercises a commanding economic and social influence. Literally construed, metropolis from the Greek means “mother city,” and by implication there are progeny or dependents

London: Organization, innovation, and reform: A statute of 1855 (the Metropolis Management Act) combined a number of smaller units of local government and replaced the medley of franchises with a straightforward system of votes by all ratepayers. Major works, such as main drainage and slum clearance, were put in the hands of the Metropolitan Board…

Asia: Urban settlement: …a large scale, called the extended metropolis, is emerging in some areas. In such a development, the expanding peripheries of the great cities merge with the surrounding countryside and villages, where a highly commercialized and intensive form of agriculture continues yet where an increasing portion of the farmers’ income is…

metropolitan, in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Anglican churches, the head of an ecclesiastical province. Originally, a metropolitan was a bishop of the Christian Church who resided in the chief city, or metropolis, of a civil province of the Roman Empire and, for ecclesiastical

Rem Koolhaas: In 1975 he formed the Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) with Elia and Zoe Zenghelis and Madelon Vriesendorp (at that time Koolhaas’s wife), with offices in Rotterdam and London.

metropolitan area, a major city together with its suburbs and nearby cities, towns, and environs over which the major city exercises a commanding economic and social influence. Literally construed, metropolis from the Greek means “mother city,” and by implication there are progeny or dependents

information system: Telecommunications: Metropolitan area networks (MANs) cover a limited densely populated area and are the electronic infrastructure of “smart cities.” Wide area networks (WANs) connect widely distributed data centres, frequently run by different organizations. Peer-to-peer networks, without a centralized control, enable broad sharing of content. The Internet…

Latin American architecture: Eighteenth-century architecture in Mexico: The Metropolitan Cathedral of Mexico in Mexico City, begun in the 16th century by Claudio de Arciniega, is Classical in its layout, with extraordinary fragments of an exuberant Baroque decoration applied on the surface. The cathedral’s Altar of the Kings (1718–37), by Jerónimo de Balbás, began…

Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC), worldwide Protestant denomination founded in 1968 and focusing its outreach endeavors on persons who identify themselves as homosexual, bisexual, transgender, and queer Christians. Although most MCC members are LGBTQ, membership is open to all individuals

United Kingdom: Local government: In England, metropolitan counties cover metropolitan areas; they serve as geographic and statistical units, but since 1986 their administrative powers have belonged to their constituent metropolitan boroughs. Moreover, in England there is a unit known variously as a ceremonial county or a geographic county. These counties also…

China: Later innovations: …eligible to compete in triennial metropolitan examinations conducted at the national capital. Those who passed were given degrees often called doctorates (jinshi) and promptly took an additional palace examination, nominally presided over by the emperor, on the basis of which they were ranked in order of excellence. They were registered…

Matvey Fyodorovich Kazakov: …construction in Moscow of the Church of Metropolitan Filipp. Its Neoclassical rotunda was the first such structure in Russia. He also built a half rotunda atop the building that housed Moscow University (the building burned during Napoleon’s invasion but was later rebuilt).

Tennessee: Constitutional framework: …a single governmental unit, called Metropolitan Government, or Metro.

hinterland: An example of a metropolitan hinterland is the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as designated by the U.S. Census Bureau. MSA’s are comprised of a central city, defined by the corporate limits; an urbanized, built-up area contiguous to the central city; and a non-urbanized area, delimited on a county basis,…

Fran Lebowitz: Books and writer’s blockade: …were collected in the book Metropolitan Life, which was soon followed by another collection, Social Studies (1981). Both books were best sellers, and it was not long before Lebowitz signed a publisher’s contract, with a hefty advance, to write a novel called Exterior Signs of Wealth. However, she was gripped…

skyscraper: The Metropolitan Life Insurance Building in New York City (1909) was modeled by Napoleon Le Brun after the Campanile of St. Mark’s in Venice, and the Woolworth Building (1913), by Cass Gilbert, is a prime example of neo-Gothic decoration. Even the Art Deco carvings on such…

Manila: …single administrative region, known as Metropolitan Manila (also called the National Capital Region); the Manila city proper encompasses only a small proportion of that area.

Manila: Government: …Manila is administered by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA). Within the MMDA is an administrative council consisting of the mayors of each of the constituent cities and municipalities as well as a number of other officials. The Sangguniang Bayan (Municipal Assembly) of each city or municipality helps in administration…

Robert Guy Choquette: …1926; his collection of poetry Metropolitan Museum (1930) won it for him again in 1931. His other books of poetry include Suite marine (1953), the influential two-volume Oeuvres poétiques (1956; “Poetic Works”), and Poèmes choisis (1970; “Selected Poems”).

Metropolitan Museum of Art, the largest and most comprehensive art museum in New York City and one of the foremost in the world. The museum was incorporated in 1870 and opened two years later. The complex of buildings at its present location in Central Park opened in 1880. The Met’s main building

Met Gala, annual charity event that benefits the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (or “the Met”) in New York City. It is usually held on the first Monday in May and coincides with the opening of the institute’s annual blockbuster exhibition. It is one of the most prestigious

Metropolitan Opera, in New York City, leading U.S. opera company, distinguished for the outstanding singers it has attracted since its opening performance (Gounod’s Faust) on October 22, 1883. After its first season under Henry E. Abbey ended in a $600,000 deficit, its management passed to the

Metropolitan Opera, in New York City, leading U.S. opera company, distinguished for the outstanding singers it has attracted since its opening performance (Gounod’s Faust) on October 22, 1883. After its first season under Henry E. Abbey ended in a $600,000 deficit, its management passed to the

George Balanchine: The American years: …resident ballet company at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, and, while there, Balanchine produced among other works Le Baiser de la fée (1937; The Fairy’s Kiss). He was also creative in a totally different sphere, as pioneer choreographer for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films, including the celebrated Slaughter…

London: Police: The Metropolitan Police force was founded by Home Secretary Robert Peel in 1829 and remains accountable to his successor, not to local councillors. By 1900 the Metropolitan Police District, which inherited responsibility for patrols against highwaymen, extended into the countryside in a 20-mile (32-km)…

police: The development of professional policing in England: The Metropolitan Police Act (1829) established the London Metropolitan Police Department, an organization that would become a model for future police departments in Great Britain, the British Commonwealth, and the United States. The “New Police,” as the force was called, was organized into a hierarchy of…

Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police and, by association, a name often used to denote that force. It is located on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment just north of Westminster Bridge in the City of Westminster. The London police force was created in 1829 by an act

Scotland Yard, the headquarters of the London Metropolitan Police and, by association, a name often used to denote that force. It is located on the River Thames at Victoria Embankment just north of Westminster Bridge in the City of Westminster. The London police force was created in 1829 by an act

subway: Work on the Metropolitan Railway began in 1860 by cut-and-cover methods—that is, by making trenches along the streets, giving them brick sides, providing girders or a brick arch for the roof, and then restoring the roadway on top. On January 10, 1863, the line was opened using steam…

Lorenzo Rodríguez: His Sagrario Metropolitano (c. 1749–69), a small church adjoining the cathedral in Mexico City, is a principal Churrigueresque monument in the New World. Its facades are lavishly ornamented in the tradition of Rodríguez’ native Andalusia but surpass even that style in their richness and complexity of…

Bloomington: …city was the site of Metropolitan Stadium, which was the home ballpark (1961–81) of Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins and the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings. The city is home to a community college (1968). Bloomington adjoins Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, and a light-rail line links the city with Minneapolis.…

hinterland: …a metropolitan hinterland is the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) as designated by the U.S. Census Bureau. MSA’s are comprised of a central city, defined by the corporate limits; an urbanized, built-up area contiguous to the central city; and a non-urbanized area, delimited on a county basis, economically tied to the…

Thomas Fortune Ryan: In 1892 he organized the Metropolitan Street Railway Co., a large traction syndicate in New York City whose securities-holding firm, the Metropolitan Traction Company, is considered to have been the first holding company in the United States. The syndicate ultimately merged with August Belmont’s Interborough Rapid Transit Company in 1905.…

swimming: History: …in 1869, ultimately became the Amateur Swimming Association, the governing body of British amateur swimming. National swimming federations were formed in several European countries from 1882 to 1889. In the United States swimming was first nationally organized as a sport by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) on its founding in…

Toronto: Transportation: …came the creation of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) to provide public transportation for the whole region. New subway lines and extensions were added to the system, although many were delayed because of a lack of funding. Other changes to the transit system included phasing out the trolleys. To facilitate…

Toronto Zoo: …municipality of Toronto and the Metropolitan Toronto Zoological Society. It replaced the overcrowded and outdated municipal Toronto Zoo at Riverdale. Originally called Metro Toronto Zoo, it was renamed Toronto Zoo in 1998.

Los Angeles: Transportation of Los Angeles: …creating the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to build and operate such a system.

reproductive system disease: Metrorrhagia: Bleeding between menstrual periods, after intercourse, and at or after menopause is frequently due to some abnormality of the cervix; the possibility of cancer must be borne in mind. Such bleeding may also come from a polyp on the cervix or a cervical erosion.…

Olympia: The remains of Olympia: The Metroum, or Temple of the Great Mother of the Gods, was a small Doric temple of the 4th century bce just below the treasuries. Because the cult no longer existed in Roman times, the temple became used for the display of statues of Roman emperors.

palm: Distribution: …and the sago palm (Metroxylon) are useful, and their distribution may be due in part to human activities. Eugeissona utilis grows in dense local stands to the exclusion of other trees in the uplands of Borneo. The vegetation dominated by Prestoea montana is distinctive in the montane forests of…

palm: Distribution: …New Guinea are dominated by Metroxylon sagu. Both the doum palm and the sago palm (Metroxylon) are useful, and their distribution may be due in part to human activities. Eugeissona utilis grows in dense local stands to the exclusion of other trees in the uplands of Borneo. The vegetation dominated…

New York Mets, American professional baseball team based in Flushing, Queens, New York. The Mets have won two World Series championships (1969 and 1986) and five National League (NL) pennants. The Mets trace their roots to the proposed Continental League, whose formation was announced in 1959 by

Tapio, the Finnish god of the forest and ruler of the game therein. He was a personified form of the various forest spirits important to hunters dependent on the forest for their livelihood. Tapio, the personified forest, was sometimes depicted as being the size of a fir tree, fierce-looking, like

Pindus Mountains: …the principal one is the Métsovo (Katára pass; 5,593 feet [1,705 metres]), a historic defile that carries the highway from the Epirus (Ípeiros) to Thessaly.

Gabriel Metsu was a Dutch painter of scenes of everyday life who was best known for his use of the window format to frame his subjects. Metsu was the son of a painter and tapestry designer who died before Metsu was born. He was raised in Leiden by his mother, a midwife, and later also by a

Quentin Massys was a Flemish artist, the first important painter of the Antwerp school. Trained as a blacksmith in his native Leuven, Massys is said to have studied painting after falling in love with an artist’s daughter. In 1491 he went to Antwerp and was admitted into the painters’ guild. Among

maitrī, (Sanskrit), in Buddhism, the perfect virtue of sympathy. See

Crown Princess Mette-Marit is a Norwegian of middle-class background who, despite intense public scrutiny of what was seen by many as her checkered past, wed Crown Prince Haakon of Norway. Mette-Marit was the daughter of a journalist and a bank employee. Her parents divorced when she was young, and

angiosperm: Annotated classification: Order Metteniusales Family: Metteniusaceae. Order Solanales Families: Convolvulaceae, Hydroleaceae, Montiniaceae, Solanaceae, Sphenocleaceae. Order Vahliales Family: Vahliaceae.

Klemens von Metternich was an Austrian statesman, minister of foreign affairs (1809–48), and a champion of conservatism, who helped form the victorious alliance against Napoleon I and who restored Austria as a leading European power, hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15. Metternich, the

Klemens von Metternich was an Austrian statesman, minister of foreign affairs (1809–48), and a champion of conservatism, who helped form the victorious alliance against Napoleon I and who restored Austria as a leading European power, hosting the Congress of Vienna in 1814–15. Metternich, the

Maitreya, in Buddhist tradition, the future Buddha, presently a bodhisattva residing in the Tushita heaven, who will descend to earth to preach anew the dharma (“law”) when the teachings of Gautama Buddha have completely decayed. Maitreya is the earliest bodhisattva around whom a cult developed and

Julien Offroy de La Mettrie was a French physician and philosopher whose Materialistic interpretation of psychic phenomena laid the groundwork for future developments of behaviourism and played an important part in the history of modern Materialism. La Mettrie obtained a medical degree at Reims,

Kaveri River: There the Mettur Dam, 5,300 feet (1,620 metres) long and 176 feet (54 metres) high, impounds a lake (Stanley Reservoir) of 60 square miles (155 square km). The Mettur Project, completed in 1934, created an important agricultural and industrial area by improving irrigation and providing hydropower.

Kaveri River: The Mettur Project, completed in 1934, created an important agricultural and industrial area by improving irrigation and providing hydropower.

Targum: To prevent misconceptions, a meturgeman expanded and explained what was obscure, adjusted the incidents of the past to the ideas of later times, emphasized the moral lessons to be learned from the biblical narratives, and adapted the rules and regulations of the Scriptures to the conditions and requirements of…

Metz, city, Moselle département, Grand Est région, northeastern France, situated at the confluence of the Moselle and Seille rivers, northwest of Strasbourg and south of the Luxembourg frontier. It was partly rebuilt and its suburbs considerably extended after World War II. Metz derives its name

Edgar Allan Poe: Legacy of Edgar Allan Poe: dissolution (“Ligeia,” “Morella,” “Metzengerstein”), and his tales of fatality (“The Assignation,” “The Man of the Crowd”). Even when he does not hurl his characters into the clutch of mysterious forces or onto the untrodden paths of the beyond, he uses the anguish of imminent death as the means…

postal system: Growth of business correspondence in the Middle Ages: …among these was the so-called Butcher Post (Metzger Post), which was able to combine the carrying of letters with the constant traveling that the trade required.

bryophyte: General features: , the liverwort Metzgeria) but may be many cell layers thick and have a complex tissue organization (e.g., the liverwort Marchantia). Branching of the thallus may be forked, regularly frondlike, digitate, or completely irregular. The margin of the thallus is often smooth but is sometimes toothed; it may…

bryophyte: Form and function: …genera of the liverwort order Metzgeriales, the water-conducting cells have a form similar to water-conducting cells of vascular plants, but the cells of the liverworts and hornworts, like those of mosses, lack the lignin that characterizes the cell walls of water-conducting cells of vascular plants.

ceremonial object: Sound devices: …where they were known as metziltayim or tzeltzelim. The sistrum, used in pre-Hellenistic Egypt in the worship of the goddesses Isis and Hathor and in Rome and Phoenicia, as well as among the Hebrews, is composed of a handle and frame with transverse metal rods and mobile disks. Producing a…

Albert Gleizes: …Robert Delaunay, Fernand Léger, and Jean Metzinger. Together the five artists made history at the 1911 Salon des Indépendants when they exhibited their works in the same room, the notorious “Salle 41” (“Room 41”). Though Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque had been painting in such a fashion since about 1907,…

Gabriel Metsu was a Dutch painter of scenes of everyday life who was best known for his use of the window format to frame his subjects. Metsu was the son of a painter and tapestry designer who died before Metsu was born. He was raised in Leiden by his mother, a midwife, and later also by a

telephone: Early sound transmitters: …the 1850s Italian American inventor Antonio Meucci had electrical devices in his home called telettrofoni that he used to communicate between rooms, though he did not patent his inventions. By 1861 Johann Philipp Reis of Germany had designed several instruments for the transmission of sound. The transmitter Reis employed consisted…

Meudon, town, Hauts-de-Seine département, Île-de-France région, north-central France. It is a southwestern suburb of Paris, standing on a hill on the south bank of the Seine River. Meudon is bordered to the south by woods and by the terrace of Meudon and has a fine panoramic view of Paris. The

Adam Frans van der Meulen was a Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in battle scenes. Meulen was a pupil of the painter of battle scenes Pieter Snayers, of the Flemish school, and was called to Paris about 1666 by the finance minister Jean Colbert, at the request of Charles Le Brun, to fill the

Constantin Meunier was a Belgian sculptor and painter, one of the principal social-realist artists of the late 19th century in Europe. Meunier began his career as a sculptor, but during the years 1857–84 he pursued only painting. After visiting some mines and factories, Meunier demonstrated in his

Karl Blossfeldt: …to study in Rome under Moritz Meurer, a decorative artist and professor of ornament and design. Along with several other assistants, Blossfeldt created and photographed casts of botanical specimens in and around Rome. He continued to work with Meurer through 1896 and traveled beyond Italy to North Africa and Greece…

Les Diaboliques: …irredeemably cruel headmaster (played by Paul Meurisse). His abusive treatment of both his wife (Véra Clouzot) and his mistress (Simone Signoret), both teachers at the school, drives them to conspire in his murder, which they disguise as an accidental drowning. When his body goes missing, however, and a ragtag detective…

The Stranger: Plot summary: …character of The Stranger is Meursault, a Frenchman who lives in Algiers (a pied-noir). The novel is famous for its first lines: “Mother died today. Or maybe it was yesterday, I don’t know.” They capture Meursault’s anomie briefly and brilliantly. After this introduction, the reader follows Meursault through the novel’s…

Kamel Daoud: …his novel Meursault, contre-enquête (2013; The Meursault Investigation).

Kamel Daoud: …his novel Meursault, contre-enquête (2013; The Meursault Investigation).

Lorraine: départements of Vosges, Meuse, Meurthe-et-Moselle, and Moselle.

Western sculpture: Early Gothic: …in the region of the Meuse. The activity of one of the chief artists, a goldsmith called Nicholas of Verdun, extends at least from the so-called Klosterneuburg altar (1181) into the early years of the 13th century. His style is characterized by graceful, curving figures and soft, looping drapery worked…

Meuse River, river, rising at Pouilly on the Langres Plateau in France and flowing generally northward for 590 miles (950 km) through Belgium and the Netherlands to the North Sea. In the French part, the river has cut a steep-sided, sometimes deep valley between Saint-Mihiel and Verdun, and beyond

Belgium: Relief, drainage, and soils: Its northern boundary is the Sambre-Meuse valley, which traverses Belgium from south-southwest to northeast.

battles of the Meuse-Argonne, (September 26–November 11, 1918), a series of final confrontations on the Western Front in World War I. Following the German retreat from the Marne River in July, Gen. Ferdinand Foch and the Allied high command designed a series of convergent and practically

Western architecture: Germany and the Low Countries: …stylistic classifications: the style of Meuseland, the Scheldt district style, the style of the bishopric of Utrecht, and the style prevalent in the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The Meuseland churches are characterized by their use of the Carolingian basilica plan. Among the most outstanding examples are St. Servatius at…

food preservation: Food irradiation: …a larger unit such as megaelectron volt (MeV), which is equal to one million electron volts.

Karl August Folkers: His research team also discovered mevalonic acid, which is a key substance in the production of numerous important biochemical compounds, including carotenoids, steroids, and terpenes.

Judaism: Contemporary Judaism: …in Israel, groups such as Mevaqshe Derekh (“Seekers of the Way”) have tried to bridge secular Israeli culture and Jewish tradition and to maintain traditional Jewish ethical standards even in wartime; in Russia, thousands of young people gather on several occasions of the year to dance and sing and express…