downtown

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˌdaʊnˈtaʊn/, US also /ˈdaʊn.taʊn/^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from the phrase “down town”, from down and town.^[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adverb, into or towards the town centre, originally in North America: 1770 in the HTOED, 1787 in Etymonline, from a Philadelphia trial: “they lived down town”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

It was used of Savannah by 1780, of Washington by 1800 and of New York by 1813.^[2] The notion was probably at first literal, of suburbs built on heights around a port city.^[2] The adjective is from 1814 in Etymonline and 1837 in the HTOED, and the noun, the central business district, from 1851.^[2][5] Smart or sophisticated, as suits downtown, is from 1914.^[5] Uptown and downtown interests already divided the voters of Washington in 1800.^[2]

Timeline

• 1770 – the adverb.^[5]
• 1814 – the adjective.^[2]
• 1851 – the noun.^[2][5]
• 1914 – smart, sophisticated.^[5]

Modern meaning

Adverb

1. (chiefly North America) In or to the central or business part of a town or city.

Noun

1. (chiefly North America) The central or main business area of a city.

Adjective

1. Of or in the central part of a city: downtown Chicago.

Word family

• downtowner

Related words

• uptown
• down
• town

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)