town
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: simple
Topics: business
law
real-estate
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”).
Inflected forms:
form: towns
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: tahn
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: tawn
pos: noun
tags: alternative
form: toon
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Northumbria
form: toune
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
form: towne
pos: noun
tags: alternative
obsolete
Senses:
gloss: 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)
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: This town is really dangerous because these youngsters have Beretta handguns.
Apparently the first reference to the making of the town walls of Stafford (it appears pretty clear that the town was never surrounded by one continuous wall or stockade, but partly by one and partly by the other) occurs in the Patent Rolls, from which we find that in 1225 permission was granted by the king to the "good men of Stafford” to collect customs or tolls for a period to enable them to enclose the town.
Walls separated town and country through much of the early modern period. Walls not only protected towns, they also helped give them a sense of autonomy and identity.
Fortifications and town walls clearly highlight the central military significance of towns.
As towns continue to grow, replanting vegetation has become a form of urban utopia and green roofs are spreading fast. Last year 1m square metres of plant-covered roofing was built in France, as much as in the US, and 10 times more than in Germany, the pioneer in this field. In Paris 22 hectares of roof have been planted, out of a potential total of 80 hectares.
The medieval town, at least in continental Europe, was walled, and without its defences it was no town.
gloss: Any more urbanized centre than the place of reference.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: I'll be in Yonkers, then I'm driving into town to see the Knicks at the Garden tonight.
Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was off for a three days' cruise up the lake. I was bitterly regretting I had not gone with him when the distant notes of a coach horn reached my ear, and I descried a four-in-hand winding its way up the inn road from the direction of Mohair.
gloss: A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week.
pos: noun
tags: UK
countable
historical
uncountable
gloss: The residents (as opposed to gown: the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Used to refer to a town or similar entity under discussion.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
countable
uncountable
examples: Call me when you get to town.
They put up "lost dog" posters all over town.
My apartment is five minutes from the center of town.
It's quiet in this part of town.
I had occasion[…]to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return[…]I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting[…], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.
gloss: A major city, especially one where the speaker is located.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: There's always a business theme, even underlying happy hours. You're never off the clock in this town.
gloss: A townhouse.
pos: noun
tags: countable
informal
uncountable
examples: Detached houses always sell faster than towns or semis.
It's not just market forces that are bringing out the semis and towns. Municipalities are requiring developers to build a mix of homes into their new planned communities, partly out of a concession to make more efficient use of virgin land, but also to address the need for more affordable housing for families who might not be able to crack a $300,000 mortgage.
gloss: A municipal organization, such as a corporation, defined by the laws of the entity of which it is a part.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: 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.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
gloss: A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.
pos: noun
tags: Scotland
UK
countable
dialectal
obsolete
uncountable
Related words: suburban
rural
urban
Derived words: English terms starting with
agrotown
assize town
bad part of town
bedroom town
bedtown
big end of town
birthtown
blow town
book town
boom town
boomtown
B-town
bytown
Campbell Town
cathedral town
churchtown
clone town
closed town
coal town
college town
come upon the town
commuter town
company town
county town
cowtown
cow town
cross town
cross-town
crosstown
cybertown
darktown
dog town
dormitory town
down-town
downtown
ecotown
Elizabeth Town
Flo-Town
fortified town
garrison town
gentleman about town
get out of town
ghost town
go-to-town
go to town
go to town on
gray town
hat town
hill town
hilltown
hog town
hometown
home town
intertown
in town
in-town
intown
jerkwater town
kirktown
kirk-town
leave town
man-about-town
man about town
market town
midtown
mining town
model town
monotown
multitown
new kid in town
new town
no brown in town
oldtown
old town
one-blink town
one-camel town
one-horse town
only game in town
on the town
O-town
out-of-town
out of town
paint the town
paint the town red
panchayat town
paper town
park the beef bus in tuna town
Pitt Town
Pitt Town Bottoms
post town
pound town
P-town
Radio Town
resort town
run out of town
satellite town
shacktown
shantytown
shanty town
shire town
skip town
smalltown
small town
small-town
spa town
stannary town
sundowner town
sundown town
sunset town
take someone to brown town
take to pound town
talk of the town
tank town
there is a new sheriff in town
Tiger Town
toast of the town
top end of town
town and gown
town-and-gown
town ball
townball
town belt
town bicycle
town bike
town-building game
town camp
town car
town center
town centre
town clerk
town-clerk
town council
town councillor
town cress
town crier
Town Crow
town drunk
towndweller
town dweller
town-dweller
towned
townee
towner
townfield
townfolk
townful
town gas
town hall
townhall
townhome
townhood
town house
townhouse
townie
townish
townland
townless
townlet
townlike
townling
townly
town mail
townman
town manager
townmate
town mayor
town meeting
town planner
town planning
townscape
townselike
townsfellow
townsfolk
township
townsite
townsman
townsmate
townspeople
townsperson
town square
townswoman
town twinning
town walls
townward
townwards
townwear
townwide
towny
transition town
Troy town
twin town
university town
uptown
Violet Town
wich town
woman about town
woman of the town
wrong side of town
Zoom town
Translations: