city English · revision 1794

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200 (Ancrene Riwle)|origins=ine-pro *kei-}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈsɪt.i/ ''(UK)'', /ˈsɪt̬.i/ ''(US)''^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|cite]], [[m|enm|citie]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(AHD)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|cité|t=town, city]], earlier [[m|fro|citet]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[la|cīvitās|t=citizenship; the citizens; the state]] (accusative [[m|la|cīvitātem]]),^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(AHD) from [[m|la|cīvis|t=citizen, townsman]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(COED 2004) from [[ine-pro|*kei-|t=to lie; bed, couch; beloved, dear]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2000) Barnhart gives as cognates of ''cīvis'' [[sa|शिव|tr=śivá|t=trusty, worthy]] and Old English [[m|ang|hīwen|t=household, family]], and relates the word to [[home]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The loss of Latin ''-v-'' is regular in French in some positions; a different development of the Latin word gave [[it|città]], [[es|ciudad]] and [[pt|cidade]].^(Etymonline)^(Klein 1966) Merriam-Webster derives the Middle English word from Anglo-French [[xno|cité]] and Medieval Latin ''cīvitās''.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A town, a borough, especially a walled town and its government; also a cathedral town (before 1200, in ''Ancrene Riwle'').^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Between Latin and English the sense passed from the inhabitants to the place: Latin ''cīvitās'' first meant “citizenship, the community of citizens”, and was applied by the Romans to the independent states or tribes of Gaul;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) the Latin word for “city” was ''urbs'', and ''cīvitās'' seems to have replaced it as Rome lost its prestige.^(Etymonline)^(Weekley 1921) The OED calls ''city'' “not a native designation”, but at first a somewhat grandiose title used instead of Old English ''burh'' (see [[borough]]).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998) It was distinguished from ''town'' by the early 14th century,^(Etymonline) and was used of ancient or foreign places of note, as capitals, from about 1380.^(OED 1989) The connection with a cathedral grew up under the Norman kings, when episcopal sees were moved to the chief borough of the diocese.^(NODE 1998)^(Weekley 1921) ''The City'', of London, dates from the 1550s,^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) and “the business and financial community of the City” from 1621.^(HTOED) In the United States ''city'' came to mean an incorporated municipality governed under a charter, by 1843.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) The adjectival use “of a city, urban” is from about 1300.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) From the 1940s, originally in American slang, ''-city'' has been added to words to mean “a place or state characterized by” something.^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – ''cite'', a town, a walled town.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1300 – as an adjective; a large or important municipality.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+ * early 14th century – distinguished from ''town''.^(Etymonline)

+ * c. 1375 – ''cityward''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1380 – of ancient or foreign capitals.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1481 – a Greek or Roman city-state.^(HTOED)

+ * 1550s – ''the City'', of London.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED)

+ * 1621 – the financial community of the City.^(HTOED)

+ * 1828 – ''citified'' (US).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1843 – an incorporated municipality in the US.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1946 – ''-city'', a place or state of something (US slang).^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large and important [[town]]; a centre of population, commerce and culture.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(COED 2004)

+ # ''(Britain)'' A town given the title by charter from the Crown, usually the seat of a [[bishop]] or containing a [[cathedral]].^(AHD)^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US, Canada)'' An incorporated [[municipality]] with powers set out in a charter granted by the state or province.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Black's Law 2004)

+ # The inhabitants of a city collectively.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(the City)'' The part of London governed by the Lord Mayor and the Corporation; the financial institutions there.^(COED 2004)^(Collins 2023)

+ # An ancient [[city-state]].^(Collins 2023)^(HTOED)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[cityless]]

+ * [[citylike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[civic]]

+ * [[civil]]

+ * [[citizen]]

+ * [[civilization]]

+ * [[civility]]

+ * [[home]]

+ * [[borough]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In everyday use in New York, ''the city'' often means Manhattan to people from the other boroughs.^(Hendrickson 2008) Northern Californians call San Francisco ''the City''.^(Dalzell 2013)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}