town
Meanings
- A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)
- Any more urbanized centre than the place of reference.
- A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week.
- The residents (as opposed to gown: the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university.
- Used to refer to a town or similar entity under discussion.
- A major city, especially one where the speaker is located.
- A townhouse.
- A municipal organization, such as a corporation, defined by the laws of the entity of which it is a part.
- An enclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor; by extension, the whole of the land which constituted the domain.
- A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.
- A surname.
- A community and ward in Merthyr Tydfil borough county borough, Wales, in Merthyr Tydfil town centre.
- London, especially central London.
- Ellipsis of Alabang Town Center (a mall in Alabang, Muntinlupa, Philippines).
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós? Proto-Celtic *dūnombor. Proto-Germanic *tūną Proto-West Germanic *tūn Old English tūn Middle English toun English town Inherited from Middle English toun, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, borrowed from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós (“lasting, durable”), from *dewh₂- (“to last”) + *-nós. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tuun (“garden”), West Frisian tún (“enclosure, garden”), Dutch tuin (“garden”), German Low German Tuun (“fence”), German Zaun (“fence”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian tun (“yard”); also archaic Welsh din (“hill”), Irish dún (“fortress”). Doublet of dun. See also -ton and tine (“to enclose”).