Online Encyclopedia

TOWN

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 111 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TOWN  , in its most

general sense, a collection or aggregation of inhabited houses larger than a
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village . The O . Eng.
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tun (M . Eng. toun) meant originally a fence or enclosure, cf . Ger. zaun, hedge, hence an enclosed place . The Scottish and
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Northern
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English use of the word for a farmhouse and its buildings, a farmstead, preserves this
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original meaning, and is paralleled by the Icel. tun,
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homestead, dwelling-house . A cognate
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Celtic form meaning a fastness, a strong place, appears in Gael. and Irish dun, Welsh, din, fortress, hill-fort (cf . Welsh dinas, town) . This is familiar from the many Latinized names of places, e.g . Lugdunum, A ugustod unum, &c . In English law "town" is not a word defined by
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statute . For purposes of
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local government there are boroughs, urban districts and rural districts, but many urban districts are rural in character and the distinction is purely an administrative one (see BOROUGH; CITY; COMMUNE (
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MEDIEVAL); MUNICIPIUM; ENGLAND: Local Government, and the sections on local administration under various country headings) .

The meaning attached to the

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term " township " in the local administration of the
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United States is treated under UNITED STATES: Local Government .

End of Article: TOWN
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