municipality
Americannoun
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municipalities
plural
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a city, town, or other district possessing corporate existence and usually its own local government.
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a community under municipal jurisdiction.
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the governing body of such a district or community.
noun
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a city, town, or district enjoying some degree of local self-government
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the governing body of such a unit
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of municipality
From the French word municipalité, dating back to 1780–90. See municipal, -ity
Explanation
If you live in a town or city that has a mayor or other officials who govern it, you live in a municipality. The word municipality comes from the Latin municipium, meaning "free city." A municipality has its own government, but sometimes municipalities join together to share services. For instance, two neighboring municipalities might decide to share a single recycling center in order to cut costs.
Vocabulary lists containing municipality
Just Mercy
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Inherit the Wind
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A Clockwork Orange
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Boulder County’s lawsuit is not some novel attempt by a municipality to regulate greenhouse emissions around the world, and it does not purport to control any activity outside of its borders.
From Slate ● Oct. 5, 2026
"Every municipality must begin a women's safety audit without delay," he said.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2026
That’s true even if you stick to “general obligation” municipal bonds, which are backed by the full faith and credit of the state or municipality, and which usually have the lowest risk of default.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 25, 2026
"In February, the municipality had sent a letter specifically calling for an inspection because the facility was not in compliance with regulations -- it was subject to sanitary enforcement proceedings," Romero told local networks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 12, 2026
Holmes acquired a ticket to a village called Englewood in the town of Lake, a municipality of 200,000 people that abutted Chicago’s southernmost boundary.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
Google's expansion plans include the Finnish municipalities of Kajaani, Muhos and Vaala as well as Hamina, where it already operates a data centre.
From Barron's ● Oct. 4, 2026
It also has contracts with 42 of the county’s 88 municipalities, including Malibu, West Hollywood and Santa Clarita.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
Many states, municipalities and nonprofits offer programs to help new buyers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026
Almost 100 municipalities in the U.S. have ended their Flock contracts in response to public outcry, including several in Texas, such as Bandera and Hood County.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Cartographers create fictional landmarks, streets, and municipalities and place them obscurely into their maps.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
