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.
[1913 Webster]
Note: The same form of expressions is used in regard to other
populous towns.
[1913 Webster]
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) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
town house
n 1: a house that is one of a row of identical houses situated
side by side and sharing common walls [syn: {row house},
{town house}]
|
