What does "town" mean?
Town: 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.
Additional senses
- 2.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. God made the country, and man made the town. Cowper.
- 3.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.
- 4.A township; the whole territory within certain limits, less than those of a country. [U.S.]
- 5.The court end of London;-commonly with the.
- 6.The metropolis or its inhabitants; as, in winter the gentleman lives in town; in summer, in the country. Always hankering after the diversions of the town. Addison. Stunned with his giddy larum half the town. Pope. Note: The same form of expressions is used in regard to other populous towns.
- 7.A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard. [Prov. Eng.& Scot.] 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. See Village. 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.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00