In ancient Greece, the term metic meant resident alien, a person who did not have citizen rights in their Greek city-state (polis) of residence.
Metic comes from the Greek μέτοικος, metoikos, where the second element is derived from οἶκος, oikos, “house; inhabit.” The preceding element meta could here either carry the notion of “change” or of “among”. The two possible senses implicit in the word were one who changes their place of dwelling and one who lives among (that is, who is “among” but not “of”). There is no need to distinguish between these senses. Both reflect the reality of the immigrant—a person who has moved from somewhere else and come to live among strangers.
Read full article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metic
Source: Wikipedia
