Word definition: city

Etimology


From Middle English cite, from Old French cite, from Late Latin cīvitātem (“city”), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (“fellow-citizen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“lie down; settle”). Cognate with Old English hīwan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas. Mostly displaced native Old English burg, whence Modern English borough.

noun


city (plural cities)

A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

(UK) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.

(Australia) The central business district; downtown.

(slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).

Examples


São Paulo is the largest city in South America.

Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?

So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

All our stations have changed. We have to constrain numbers. We have to mandate face coverings. These are massive changes in what is a public transport city. This is not a car city.

Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.

St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.

I'm going into the city today to do some shopping.

It’s video game city in here!

Related words


hypernyms

settlement

related terms

civic

civil

Data provided by Wiktionary