Town

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Town \Town\ (toun), 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.]
     1. 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.
            [Obs.] --Palsgrave.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Any number or collection of houses to which belongs a
        regular market, and which is not a city or the see of a
        bishop. [Eng.] --Johnson.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. 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.
                                                    --Cowper.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. 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]
  
     5. A township; the whole territory within certain limits,
        less than those of a country. [U. S.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     6. The court end of London; -- commonly with the.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     7. The metropolis or its inhabitants; as, in winter the
        gentleman lives in town; in summer, in the country.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Always hankering after the diversions of the town.
                                                    --Addison.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Stunned with his giddy larum half the town. --Pope.
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     Note: The same form of expressions is used in regard to other
           populous towns.
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     8. A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard. [Prov.
        Eng. & Scot.]
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: 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]
  
     Syn: Village; hamlet. See {Village}.
          [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.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  town
       n 1: an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a
            city; "they drive through town on their way to work"
       2: an administrative division of a county; "the town is
          responsible for snow removal" [syn: {township}]
       3: the people living in a municipality smaller than a city;
          "the whole town cheered the team" [syn: {townspeople}, {townsfolk}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  60 Moby Thesaurus words for "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
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  TOWN. This word is used differently in different parts of the United States. 
  In Pennsylvania and some other of the middle states, it signifies a village 
  or a city. In some of the northeastern states it denotes a subdivision of a 
  county, called in other places a township.