Etymology of town

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology

Original entry ↗

noun

A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century) · Any more urbanized centre than the place of reference. · A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week. · The residents (as opposed to gown: the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- Proto-Indo-European *-nós Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós? Proto-Celtic *dūnombor. Proto-Germanic *tūną Proto-West Germanic *tūn Old English tūn Middle English toun English town Inherited from Middle English toun, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, borrowed from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós (“lasting, durable”), from *dewh₂- (“to last”) + *-nós. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Tuun (“garden”), West Frisian tún (“enclosure, garden”), Dutch tuin (“garden”), German Low German Tuun (“fence”), German Zaun (“fence”), Danish tun, Swedish tun and Norwegian Nynorsk tun (“yard”); also archaic Welsh din (“hill”), Irish dún (“fortress”). Doublet of dun. See also -ton and tine (“to enclose”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Cognate mentionTuunstq · garden
Cognate mentiontúnfy · enclosure, garden
Cognate mentiontuinnl · garden
Cognate mentionZaunde · fence
Cognate mentiontunda
Cognate mentiontunsv
Cognate mentiontunnn · yard
Cognate mentiondincy · hill
Cognate mentiondúnga · fortress
Doublet mentiondunen

This page abbreviates 7 auxiliary source items. The etymology narrative is not shortened. Omission counts are available in the audit fields below; consult the original for complete auxiliary material.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:toun",
        "tree": "1",
        "text": "++"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *dewh₂-\nProto-Indo-European *-nós\nProto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós?\nProto-Celtic *dūnombor.\nProto-Germanic *tūną\nProto-West Germanic *tūn\nOld English tūn\nMiddle English toun\nEnglish town\n[Appendix:Glossary#loanword|Borrowed]] from\", \"terms\" : [ { \"gloss\" : \"stronghold, rampart\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*duh₂-nós\", \"gloss\" : \"lasting, durable\", \"children\" : [ { \"terms\" : [ { \"alt\" : \"*dewh₂-\", \"gloss\" : \"to last\", \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*dweh₂-\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" }, { \"children\" : [ ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"term\" : \"*-nós\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"From\", \"is_group\" : true, \"keyword\" : \"affix\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Indo-European\", \"status\" : \"inline\", \"lang\" : \"ine-pro\" } ], \"is_uncertain\" : true, \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Celtic\", \"term\" : \"*dūnom\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"cel-pro\" } ], \"keyword\" : \"bor\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*tūną\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gem-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Proto-West Germanic\", \"term\" : \"*tūn\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"gmw-pro\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Old English\", \"term\" : \"tūn\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"ang\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"Middle English\", \"term\" : \"toun\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"enm\" } ], \"keyword_label\" : \"Inherited from\", \"keyword\" : \"inherited\" } ], \"lang_name\" : \"English\", \"term\" : \"town\", \"status\" : \"ok\", \"lang\" : \"en\" }\" data-lang=\"en\" data-title=\"town\">\nInherited from Middle English toun, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, borrowed from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós (“lasting, durable”), from *dewh₂- (“to last”) + *-nós."
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "stq",
        "2": "Tuun",
        "t": "garden"
      },
      "expansion": "Saterland Frisian Tuun (“garden”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "fy",
        "2": "tún",
        "t": "enclosure, garden"
      },
      "expansion": "West Frisian tún (“enclosure, garden”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nl",
        "2": "tuin",
        "t": "garden"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch tuin (“garden”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nds-de",
        "2": "Tuun",
        "t": "fence"
      },
      "expansion": "German Low German Tuun (“fence”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Zaun",
        "t": "fence"
      },
      "expansion": "German Zaun (“fence”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "da",
        "2": "tun",
        "3": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Danish tun"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sv",
        "2": "tun",
        "3": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Swedish tun"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "nn",
        "2": "tun",
        "t": "yard"
      },
      "expansion": "Norwegian Nynorsk tun (“yard”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "din",
        "t": "hill"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh din (“hill”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "ga",
        "2": "dún",
        "t": "fortress"
      },
      "expansion": "Irish dún (“fortress”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "dun"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of dun"
    },
    {
      "name": "ety",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": ":inh",
        "3": "enm:toun",
        "tree": "1",
        "text": "++"
      },
      "expansion": "Etymology tree\nProto-Indo-European *dewh₂-\nProto-Indo-European *-nós\nProto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós?\nProto-Celtic *dūnombor.\nProto-Germanic *tūną\nProto-West Germanic *tūn\nOld English tūn\nMiddle English toun\nEnglish town\nInherited from Middle English toun, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, borrowed from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (“stronghold, rampart”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós (“lasting, durable”), from *dewh₂- (“to last”) + *-nós."
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "*dewh₂-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dweh₂-"
    ],
    [
      "*-nós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-nós"
    ],
    [
      "*dūnom",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/dūnom"
    ],
    [
      "*tūną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/tūną"
    ],
    [
      "*tūn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/tūn"
    ],
    [
      "tūn",
      "tun#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "toun",
      "toun#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "toun",
      "toun#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "tūn",
      "tun#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*tūn",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/tūn"
    ],
    [
      "*tūną",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/tūną"
    ],
    [
      "*dūnom",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Celtic/dūnom"
    ],
    [
      "*dewh₂-",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/dweh₂-"
    ],
    [
      "*-nós",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/-nós"
    ],
    [
      "Tuun",
      "Tuun#Saterland_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "tún",
      "tún#West_Frisian"
    ],
    [
      "tuin",
      "tuin#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "Tuun",
      "Tuun#Low_German"
    ],
    [
      "Zaun",
      "Zaun#German"
    ],
    [
      "tun",
      "tun#Danish"
    ],
    [
      "tun",
      "tun#Swedish"
    ],
    [
      "tun",
      "tun#Norwegian_Nynorsk"
    ],
    [
      "din",
      "din#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "dún",
      "dún#Irish"
    ],
    [
      "dun",
      "dun#English"
    ],
    [
      "-ton",
      "-ton#English"
    ],
    [
      "tine",
      "tine#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Chichewa",
      "lang_code": "ny",
      "word": "tawuni",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Hawaiian",
      "lang_code": "haw",
      "word": "kaona",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Jersey Dutch",
      "lang_code": "gmw-jdt",
      "word": "tāun",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Pennsylvania German",
      "lang_code": "pdc",
      "word": "Taun",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ]
    },
    {
      "lang": "Japanese",
      "lang_code": "ja",
      "word": "タウン",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "taun"
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)",
        "Any more urbanized centre than the place of reference.",
        "A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week.",
        "The residents (as opposed to gown: the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "countable",
        "uncountable",
        "UK",
        "historical"
      ],
      "recordId": "aa1547834b0d95128361b679664a655420a5984cf7920df30ced398c5f7e0c58",
      "rawRecordSha256": "11749f63f6076e390c65ebc6437b8d3fce9abff6d493edb2727f55eafa7bf490",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 146660
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 7,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

The source etymologies

Unnumbered source etymology

Relationships mentioned by the source

Where this record stops

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