municipal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French municipal or directly borrowed from Latin mūnicipālis (“of a citizen of a free town”),^[2][3][4] from mūniceps (“citizen of a municipium”), from mūnus (“duty, office, service”) and the combining form of capere (“to take, assume”).^[2][3][5] A municipium was a Roman town whose citizens had Roman citizenship but were governed by their own laws.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the internal affairs of a state, as distinct from its foreign relations: about 1540, a sense now obsolete.^[2][6][4]

Semantic evolution

Of the local self-government of a city or town is from 1600,^[2][6] the 1540s in Etymonline.^[3] In Roman history, of a municipium, and hence provincial, is from 1618.^[6] The municipal borough is from 1868.^[6] Municipality is from 1790, from French municipalité.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1540 – of a state's internal affairs.^[2][6]
• 1600 – of a town's government.^[2][6]
• 1790 – municipality.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Of or relating to a town or city or its local government.

Word family

• municipally
• municipality
• intermunicipal
• municipalism
• municipalize
• nonmunicipal
• premunicipal
• municipal corporation

Related words

• munificent
• remunerate
• remuneration
• common
• capture

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press