town English · revision 3589

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=601–604 (Old English tūn)|origins=cel-pro *dūnom}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /taʊn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|toun]], [[inh|ang|tūn|t=enclosure; enclosed land with its buildings; village]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) from [[gem-pro|*tūną|t=fenced place]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which Barnhart and Etymonline regard as a very early borrowing, [[der|cel-pro|*dūnom|t=hill, hill fort]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) Its Germanic cognates include [[osx|tūn|t=fence, hedge]], [[nl|tuin|t=garden]] and [[de|Zaun|t=fence]];^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(SOED 2002) the Celtic words include [[sga|dún|t=fortress]], [[cy|din|t=fort]], and the [[m|xtg|-dūnum]] of Gaulish place names such as [[m|xtg|Augustodūnum]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Klein 1966)^(SOED 2002) It is related to [[down]], “hill”.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An enclosure, the enclosed land around a dwelling: Old English ''tūn'', 601–604.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) By about 700 it also meant a village.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Old English ''tūn'' was also a farmstead with its buildings, from about 890,^(OED 1989) and a small cluster of houses, a hamlet, from about 725.^(OED 1989) An inhabited place larger and more regularly built than a village is first recorded in 1154, after the Norman Conquest,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) corresponding to the French ''ville''.^(Barnhart 1988) ''Town'' without an article (''to town'') is from about 1250,^(OED 1989) and town as opposed to the country from about 1386.^(OED 1989) The inhabitants of a town are ''the town'' from the 14th century.^(Hoad 1986) In the United States a ''town'' is a division of local government from the 19th century.^(Hoad 1986) ''The talk of the town'' is from the 1620s.^(Cresswell 2021) In Scotland ''town'' long kept the sense “farmstead”.^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 601–604 – Old English ''tūn'', an enclosure.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 700 – a village.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 890 – a farmstead.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1154 – a town larger than a village.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1330 – Middle English ''toun''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1386 – town as opposed to the country.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1620s – ''the talk of the town''.^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A settlement larger than a [[village]] and usually smaller than a [[city]].^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The people of such a place.^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # A [[township]].^(AHD)^(Hoad 1986)

+ # The commercial centre of an area: ''going into town''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)

+ # The town, or city life, as opposed to the [[country]].^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)

+ # ''(Scotland, historical)'' A farmstead.^(SOED 2002)^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[townless]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[township]]

+ * [[townsfolk]]

+ * [[townspeople]]

+ * [[down]]

+ * [[dune]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}