Town (?), n. [OE.
toun, tun, AS. tun inclosure, fence, village, town; akin to
D. tuin a garden, G. zaun a hadge, fence, OHG. zun,
Icel. tun an inclosure, homestead, house, Ir. & Gael. dun a fortress, W.
din. Cf. Down,
adv. & prep., Dune, tine to inclose.]
1. Formerly: (a) An inclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor.
[Obs.] (b) The whole of the
land which constituted the domain. [Obs.] (c) A collection of houses inclosed
by fences or walls. [Obs.]
Palsgrave.
2.
Any number or collection of houses to which belongs a regular market, and which is
not a city or the see of a bishop. [Eng.] Johnson.
3. Any collection of houses larger than a village, and not incorporated as a city; also, loosely, any large, closely populated place, whether incorporated or not, in distinction from the country, or from rural
communities.
God made the country, and man made the
town.
Cowper.
4. The body of inhabitants resident in a
town; as, the town voted to send two
representatives to the legislature; the town voted to lay a tax for repairing the
highways.
5. A township; the whole territory within certain limits, less than those of a country. [U. S.]
6. The
court end of London;-- commonly with the.
7. The metropolis or its inhabitants; as, in winter
the gentleman lives in town; in summer, in the country.
Always hankering after the diversions of the town.
Addison.
Stunned with his
giddy larum half the town.
Pope. &fist; The same form
of expressions is used in regard to
other populous towns.
8. A farm
or farmstead; also, a court
or farmyard. [Prov.
Eng. & Scot.]
&fist;
Town is often used adjectively or in combination with other words; as, town clerk, or town-clerk; town- crier, or town crier; townhall, town-hall, or town hall; townhouse, town house, or town- house.
Syn. -- Village; hamlet. See Village.
Town clerk, an office who keeps the records of a
town, and enters its official proceedings. See Clerk. -- Town cress (Bot.), the garden cress, or peppergrass. Dr.
Prior. -- Town house. (a)
A house in town, in distinction from a house in the country. (b) See Townhouse. -- Town meeting, a legal meeting of the inhabitants of a town entitled to vote, for the transaction of public bisiness. [U. S.] -- Town
talk, the common talk of a place; the subject or topic of common conversation.
Hear it pronounced