municipal

[myoo-nis-uh-puh l]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR municipal ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

of or relating to a town or city or its local government: municipal elections.

Archaic. pertaining to the internal affairs of a state or nation rather than to international affairs.

noun

Origin of municipal

1530–40; < Latin mūnicipālis, equivalent to mūnicip- (stem of mūniceps) citizen of a free town (mūni(a) duties + -cip-, combining form of capere to take) + -ālis -al¹

Related formsmu·nic·i·pal·ly, adverbin·ter·mu·nic·i·pal, adjectivenon·mu·nic·i·pal, adjectivenon·mu·nic·i·pal·ly, adverbpre·mu·nic·i·pal, adjectivequa·si-mu·nic·i·pal, adjectivequa·si-mu·nic·i·pal·ly, adverbsu·per·mu·nic·i·pal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for municipal

borough, city, civic, civil, community, corporate, domestic, home, incorporated, internal, local, metropolitan, native, public, town, urban, burghal

Examples from the Web for municipal

Contemporary Examples of municipal

Last year, Takoma Park in Maryland took a similar step when it allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in municipal elections.
Paying Taxes and Going to Jail Like Adults; Teens Deserve the Right to Vote, Too
Jillian Keenan
October 6, 2014
Criminal justice is quintessentially a local matter; policing, judging, and operating local jails are municipal endeavors.
Prosecuting Officer Wilson Won't Bring Justice to Ferguson
Candace McCoy
August 23, 2014
The City Council appoints the municipal judge, currently Ron Brockmeyer, who is also white.
Ferguson Feeds Off the Poor: Three Warrants a Year Per Household
Michael Daly
August 22, 2014
Earlier this month, Toledo, Ohio, watched its municipal water supply descend into an undrinkable stew of algal toxins.
Are Water Filters B.S.?
Michael Schulson
August 19, 2014
But municipal workers are still to be seen tending flowerbeds.
As the Key Battle Looms, a Report from Ukraine's Front Lines
Jamie Dettmer
August 13, 2014

Historical Examples of municipal

My brother belongs to the municipal council, and it's through him that I know it.
The Three Cities Trilogy, Complete
Emile Zola
For I should say that a signal honour of a municipal character has just been done me.
Ruggles of Red Gap
Harry Leon Wilson
The Act is a municipal law, and a foreign nation has nothing to do with it.
Diary from November 12, 1862, to October 18, 1863
Adam Gurowski
The strike of the municipal workers in Warsaw was short-lived.
The Paper Moneys of Europe
Francis W. Hirst
This is prerogative, and not to be limited by our municipal rules.
Essays, Second Series
Ralph Waldo Emerson

British Dictionary definitions for municipal

municipal

adjective

of or relating to a town, city, or borough or its local government

Derived Formsmunicipalism, nounmunicipalist, nounmunicipally, adverb

Word Origin for municipal

C16: from Latin mūnicipium a free town, from mūniceps citizen from mūnia responsibilities + capere to take

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

Word Origin and History for municipal

adj.

1540s, from Middle French municipal, from Latin municipalis "of a citizen of a free town, of a free town," also "of a petty town, provincial," from municipium "free town, city whose citizens have the privileges of Roman citizens but are governed by their own laws," from municeps "citizen, inhabitant of a free town." Second element is root of capere "assume, take" (see capable). First element is from munus (plural munia) "service performed for the community, duty, work," also "public spectacle paid for by the magistrate, (gladiatorial) entertainment, gift," from Old Latin moenus "service, duty, burden," from PIE *moi-n-es-, generally taken as a suffixed form of root *mei- "to change, go, move" (Watkins; see mutable); but Tucker says "more probably" from the other PIE root *mei- meaning "bind," so that munia = "obligations" and communis = "bound together."