(from μητρις, mother, and κωμις, town or village), a term in the ancient church-history, signifying "a borough or village that had other villages under its jurisdiction."—What a metropolis was among cities, a metrocomia was among country towns. The ancient metrocomia had each its choripiscopos or rural dean, and here was his see or residence. See Metropolis and Choripiscopus.