megacity
巨大都市
解説 Definition
非常に大きな都市。百万人以上の人口がある。
A megacity is a very large city with an extremely big population, usually more than 10 million people. The word is common in geography, urban studies, and discussions about modern life. It often suggests both economic importance and serious city problems such as traffic or pollution.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
mega- が付くと「普通より桁違いに大きい」と捉えるのがコツ。megastore が「超大型店」なら、megacity はその都市版で「巨大都市」と自然に結びつく。city そのものは簡単なので、意味の核はほぼ mega- にある。単に big city ではなく、人口集中・交通渋滞・住宅問題などを抱える“世界級の都市圏”を思い浮かべると定着しやすい。東京やムンバイのような文脈で出やすい。
The main memory key is `mega-`, which means something extremely large. If `megastore` is a very large store, `megacity` is the city version of that pattern. It helps to connect the word with famous huge cities and with collocations like `rapid urban growth` or `traffic problems in a megacity`.
例文
The megacity faces infrastructure challenges.
巨大都市はインフラの課題に直面する。
Megacities consume vast amounts of resources.
巨大都市は膨大な資源を消費する。
The megacity's population continues to grow.
巨大都市の人口は増加し続けている。
megacity の類義語・関連語
megacity の語源・成り立ち Etymology
megacityはmega-＋cityの複合語で、mega-はギリシャ語megas「大きい」、cityはラテン語civitasを経た語です。つまり「とても大きな都市」が原義で、megastoreやmegatonと同じ強調のmega-です。
Megacity is a modern compound of mega- and city. Mega- comes from Greek megas, meaning "great" or "large," and city comes through French and Latin from civitas. The word therefore began as "very large city," using the same strengthening prefix seen in words like megastore and megaton.
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