DETROIT

city, seat of Wayne county, southeastern Michigan, U.S., on the Detroit River (connecting Lakes Erie and St. Clair), opposite Windsor, Ont., Can. It was founded in 1701 by a French trader, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who built a fort on the river and named it Fort-Pontchartrain-du-Dtroit in honour of his patron (the French word dtroit meaning strait); later the British called it simply Detroit. In the 20th century the city's name became synonymous with the American automotive industry.