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townsman

American  
[tounz-muhn] / ˈtaʊnz mən /

noun

townsmen plural
  1. a native or inhabitant of a town.

  2. a native or inhabitant of one's own or the same town.

  3. (in New England) a selectman.


townsman British  
/ ˈtaʊnzmən /

noun

  1. an inhabitant of a town

  2. a person from the same town as oneself

"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

Gender

See -man.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of townsman

before 1000; Middle English; Old English tūnesman fellow member of a township. See town, 's 1, man

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.

He was watching television when he spotted his fellow townsman, Mr. Johnson.

From Washington Times • Jan. 31, 2021

A boy and his new friend hatch a plan to save a community of mischievous cavern-dwellers from the villainous townsman who plans to exterminate them.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 27, 2019

A townsman with a plane jetted to Memphis to buy the team proper cleats.

From Washington Post • Dec. 20, 2018

A cad, according to one definition, may have been an academy student, or townsman originally - Etonian slang for someone who doesn't quite cut it as a gentleman.

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2013

To Ged, however, it seemed a city, and not knowing where to go he asked the first townsman of Thwil he met where he would find the Warder of the School on Roke.

From "A Wizard of Earthsea" by Ursula K. Le Guin

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