Town

• POS: Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

Town, n. [OE. toun, tun, AS. tun inclosure, fence, village, town; akin to D. tuin a garden, G. zaun a hadge, fence, OHG. zun, Icel. tun an inclosure, homestead, house, Ir. & Gael. dun a fortress, W. din. Cf. Down, adv. & prep., Dune, tine to inclose.].

•  Formerly: (a) An inclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor. [Obs.] (b) The whole of the land which constituted the domain. [Obs.] (c) A collection of houses inclosed by fences or walls.  Palsgrave.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any number or collection of houses to which belongs a regular market, and which is not a city or the see of a bishop.  Johnson.  [1913 Webster]
•  Any collection of houses larger than a village, and not incorporated as a city; also, loosely, any large, closely populated place, whether incorporated or not, in distinction from the country, or from rural communities.  [1913 Webster]

  "God made the country, and man made the town."  [1913 Webster]
•  The body of inhabitants resident in a town; as, the town voted to send two representatives to the legislature; the town voted to lay a tax for repairing the highways.  [1913 Webster]
•  A township; the whole territory within certain limits, less than those of a country.  [1913 Webster]
•  The court end of London; -- commonly with the.  [1913 Webster]
•  The metropolis or its inhabitants; as, in winter the gentleman lives in town; in summer, in the country.  [1913 Webster]

  " The same form of expressions is used in regard to other populous towns."  [1913 Webster]

  "Always hankering after the diversions of the town."  [1913 Webster]

  "Stunned with his giddy larum half the town."  [1913 Webster]
•  A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.  [1913 Webster]

  " Town is often used adjectively or in combination with other words; as, town clerk, or town-clerk; town-crier, or town crier; townhall, town-hall, or town hall; townhouse, town house, or town-house."  [1913 Webster]

Town clerk, an office who keeps the records of a town, and enters its official proceedings. See Clerk. -- Town cress (Bot.), the garden cress, or peppergrass. Dr. Prior. -- Town house. (a) A house in town, in distinction from a house in the country. (b) See Townhouse. -- Town meeting, a legal meeting of the inhabitants of a town entitled to vote, for the transaction of public bisiness. [U. S.] -- Town talk, the common talk of a place; the subject or topic of common conversation.

Syn. -- Village; hamlet. See Village.

OXFORD DICTIONARY

Town, n.
1 a a large urban area with a name, defined boundaries, and local government, being larger than a village and usu. not created a city. b any densely populated area, esp. as opposed to the country or suburbs. c the people of a town (the whole town knows of it).
2 a Brit. London or the chief city or town in one's neighbourhood (went up to town). b the central business or shopping area in a neighbourhood (just going into town).
3 the permanent residents of a university town as distinct from the members of the university (cf. GOWN).
4 US = TOWNSHIP 2.

Idiom

go to town colloq. act or work with energy or enthusiasm. on the town colloq. enjoying the entertainments, esp. the night-life, of a town; celebrating. town clerk
1 US & hist. the officer of the corporation of a town in charge of records etc.
2 Brit. hist. the secretary and legal adviser of a town corporation until 1974. town council the elective governing body in a municipality. town councillor an elected member of this. town crier see CRIER. town gas manufactured gas for domestic and commercial use. town hall a building for the administration of local government, having public meeting rooms etc.
town house
1 a town residence, esp. of a person with a house in the country.
2 a terrace house, esp. of a stylish modern type.
3 a house in a planned group in a town.
4 Brit. a town hall. town-major hist. the chief executive officer in a garrison town or fortress. town mayor Brit. the chairman of a town council. town meeting US a meeting of the voters of a town for the transaction of public business. town planning the planning of the construction and growth of towns.

Derivative

townish adj. townless adj. townlet n. townward adj. & adv. townwards adv.

Etymology

OE tun enclosure f. Gmc

THESAURUS

Town

Kreis, archbishopric, archdiocese, arrondissement, bailiwick, bishopric, borough, burgh, burghal, canton, citified, city, civic, commune, community, congressional district, constablewick, county, departement, diocese, district, downtown, duchy, electoral district, electorate, government, hamlet, hundred, interurban, magistracy, metropolis, metropolitan, metropolitan area, midtown, municipal, municipality, oblast, okrug, oppidan, parish, precinct, principality, province, region, riding, sheriffalty, sheriffwick, shire, shrievalty, soke, stake, state, suburban, territory, township, uptown, urban, village, wapentake, ward

ROGET THESAURUS

Town

Abode

N abode, dwelling, lodging, domicile, residence, apartment, place, digs, pad, address, habitation, where one's lot is cast, local habitation, berth, diggings, seat, lap, sojourn, housing, quarters, headquarters, resiance, tabernacle, throne, ark, home, fatherland, country, homestead, homestall, fireside, hearth, hearth stone, chimney corner, inglenook, ingle side, harem, seraglio, zenana, household gods, lares et penates, roof, household, housing, dulce domum, paternal domicile, native soil, native land, habitat, range, stamping ground, haunt, hangout, biosphere, environment, ecological niche, nest, nidus, snuggery, arbor, bower, lair, den, cave, hole, hiding place, cell, sanctum sanctorum, aerie, eyrie, eyry, rookery, hive, covert, resort, retreat, perch, roost, nidification, kala jagah, bivouac, camp, encampment, cantonment, castrametation, barrack, casemate, casern, tent, building, chamber, xenodochium, tenement, messuage, farm, farmhouse, grange, hacienda, toft, cot, cabin, hut, chalet, croft, shed, booth, stall, hovel, bothy, shanty, dugout, wigwam, pen, barn, bawn, kennel, sty, doghold, cote, coop, hutch, byre, cow house, cow shed, stable, dovecote, columbary, columbarium, shippen, igloo, iglu, jacal, lacustrine dwelling, lacuslake dwelling, lacuspile dwelling, log cabin, log house, shack, shebang, tepee, topek, house, mansion, place, villa, cottage, box, lodge, hermitage, rus in urbe, folly, rotunda, tower, chateau, castle, pavilion, hotel, court, manor-house, capital messuage, hall, palace, kiosk, bungalow, casa, country seat, apartment house, flat house, frame house, shingle house, tenement house, temple, hamlet, village, thorp, dorp, ham, kraal, borough, burgh, town, city, capital, metropolis, suburb, province, country, county town, county seat, courthouse, ghetto, street, place, terrace, parade, esplanade, alameda, board walk, embankment, road, row, lane, alley, court, quadrangle, quad, wynd, close, yard, passage, rents, buildings, mews, square, polygon, circus, crescent, mall, piazza, arcade, colonnade, peristyle, cloister, gardens, grove, residences, block of buildings, market place, place, plaza, anchorage, roadstead, roads, dock, basin, wharf, quay, port, harbor, quarter, parish, assembly room, meetinghouse, pump room, spa, watering place, inn, hostel, hostelry, hotel, tavern, caravansary, dak bungalow, khan, hospice, public house, pub, pot house, mug house, gin mill, gin palace, bar, bar room, barrel house, cabaret, chophouse, club, clubhouse, cookshop, dive, exchange, grill room, saloon, shebeen, coffee house, eating house, canteen, restaurant, buffet, cafe, estaminet, posada, almshouse, poorhouse, townhouse, garden, park, pleasure ground, plaisance, demesne, cage, terrarium, doghouse, pen, aviary, barn, stall, zoo, urban, metropolitan, suburban, provincial, rural, rustic, domestic, cosmopolitan, palatial, eigner Hert ist goldes Werth, even cities have their graves, ubi libertas ibi patria, home sweet home.

Fashion

N fashion, style, ton, bon ton, society, good society, polite society, monde, drawing-room, civilized life, civilization, town, beau monde, high life, court, world, fashionable world, gay world, Vanity Fair, show, manners, breeding, air, demeanor, savoir faire, gentlemanliness, gentility, decorum, propriety, biens_eance, conventions of society, Mrs, Grundy, punctilio, form, formality, etiquette, point of etiquette, dress, custom, mode, vogue, go, rage, prevailing taste, fad, trend, bandwagon, furore, thing, in thing, craze, chic, last word, man of fashion, woman of fashion, man of the world, woman of the world, height of fashion, pink of fashion, star of fashion, glass of fashion, leader of fashion, arbiter elegantiarum, the beautiful people, the fashion set, upper ten thousand, elite, smart set, the four hundred, in crowd, fashionable, in fashion, a la mode, comme il faut, admitted in society, admissible in society, presentable, conventional, genteel, well-bred, well mannered, well behaved, well spoken, gentlemanlike, gentlemanly, ladylike, civil, polite, polished, refined, thoroughbred, courtly, distingue, unembarrassed, degage, janty, jaunty, dashing, fast, modish, stylish, chic, trendy, recherche, newfangled, all the rage, all the go, with it, in, faddish, in court, in full dress, in evening dress, en grande tenue, fashionably, for fashion's sake, a la francaise, a la parisienne, a l' anglaise, a l' americaine, autre temps autre mauers, chaque pays a sa guise.