township

[ toun-ship ]
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noun
  1. a unit of local government, usually a subdivision of a county, found in most midwestern and northeastern states of the U.S. and in most Canadian provinces.

  2. (in U.S. surveys of public land) a region or district approximately 6 miles square (93.2 sq. km), containing 36 sections.

  1. English History.

    • one of the local divisions or districts of a large parish, each containing a village or small town, usually with a church of its own.

    • the manor, parish, etc., itself.

    • its inhabitants.

  2. (in Australia)

    • a small town or settlement serving as the business center of a rural area.

    • the business center of a town or suburb.

  3. (formerly, in South Africa) a segregated residential settlement for Black people, located outside a city or town.

Origin of township

1
First recorded before 900; Middle English tounship “community,” Old English tūnscipe “village community”; see origin at town, -ship

Words Nearby township

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use township in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for township

township

/ (ˈtaʊnʃɪp) /


noun
  1. a small town

  2. (in the Scottish Highlands and islands) a small crofting community

  1. (in the US and Canada) a territorial area, esp a subdivision of a county: often organized as a unit of local government

  2. (formerly, in South Africa) a planned urban settlement of Black Africans or Coloured people: Compare location (def. 4)

  3. English history

    • any of the local districts of a large parish, each division containing a village or small town

    • the particular manor or parish itself as a territorial division

    • the inhabitants of a township collectively

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012