1) Chief town 
The metropole, from the Greek metropolis for `mother city` is the British metropolitan centre of the British Empire, i.e. the United Kingdom itself. It is sometimes used even more specifically to refer to London as the metropole of the British Empire, insofar as its politicians and businessmen determined the economic, diplomatic, and military ch.....
• (n.) A metropolis.
Met'ro·pole noun [ Confer French métropole . See Metropolis .] A metropolis. [ Obsolete] Holinshed.