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city, n. : Oxford English Dictionary http://www.oed.com.ezp.lib.unimelb.edu.au/viewdictionaryentry/Entry...

Oxford English Dictionary | The definitive record of the English


language

city, n.
Pronunciation: /ɑsǺtǺ/
Forms: ME–15 cyte, cite, (ME scite), ME cety, ME cytee, site, syte, ME–15 citee, cete, ME cetie, sete,
ME–16 citie, 15 cittie, citte, cytte, setye, syttey, sittey; also Sc. ciete, cyete, scitie, 15–16 citty, (16
chitty), 15– city.
Etymology: Middle English cite, < Old French cité, earlier citet, corresponding to Provençal ciptat, Italian
città, earlier cittade, Romanic *civ'tade < Latin cīvitāt-em. By another phonetic process the Romanic type
gave Provençal ciutat, Catalan ciutat, Spanish ciudad, Portuguese cidade. Latin cīvitās, -tātem was n. of state
or condition < cīvis citizen: its primary sense was therefore ‘citizenship’; thence concretely ‘the body of
citizens, the community’; only in later times was the word taken as = urbs, the town or place occupied by the
community. The historical relation between the Roman cīvitās and cīvis was thus the reverse of that between
English city and citizen, which however is that of the Greek πόλις and πολίτης.

The name civitas was applied by the Romans to each of the independent states or tribes of Gaul; in later times it adhered to the
chief town of each of these states, which usually became afterwards the seat of civil government and of episcopal authority.
Though there were civitates in Britain also in Roman times, the word was not adopted by the Angles and Saxons, who applied
the name burh to all towns alike. In later times civitas may be found as a Latin equivalent of burh, and, in Domesday, it is
frequently applied to the larger and more important byriȝ, burȝes, or boroughs, which were the centres of districts, and had in
some cases municipal autonomy, and thus corresponded in character to the cités of France. As an English word, cité is found
early in the 13th c., applied, both to foreign, and particularly ancient cities, where it is probably due to translation from Latin
or French, and also to important English boroughs, such as London and Lincoln. Under the Norman kings, the episcopal sees,
which were formerly often established in villages, began to be removed to the chief borough or ‘city’ of the diocese, as in France;
and as the bishops thus went to the cities, there grew up a notion of identification between ‘city’ and ‘cathedral town’; which
was confirmed and legally countenanced when, on the establishment of the new bishoprics by Henry VIII, the boroughs in
which they were set up were created ‘cities’. The same title has been conferred on all (or nearly all) the places to which new
bishoprics have been assigned in the 19th c. Historians and legal antiquaries have, however, always pointed out that there is no
necessary connexion of ‘city’ with ‘cathedral town’, and in recent times the style and rank of ‘city’ have begun to be conferred by
royal authority on large and important boroughs which are not episcopal seats, Birmingham being the first so distinguished in
England. (See Freeman in Macmillan's Mag., May 1889.)

In Scotland, the style of civitas appears to have been introduced from England, after the association of the word with the
episcopal seats. Here, it appears to have had no relation to the size, civil importance, or municipal standing of the place, but
was freely applied in charters from the time of David I (12th c.) to every bishop's seat, even when a mere hamlet; it was only at
much later dates that some of these civitates attained sufficient importance to be raised to the rank of burghs, while others
remained villages. In later times, perh. not before the Reformation, civitas is found applied to Perth and Edinburgh, which
were not episcopal seats, but ancient royal burghs, and seats of royalty. The vernacular form ‘city’ is found in the 15th c. applied
to some of the burghs which were civitates, and it gradually came to be commonly used of certain of the larger of these, notably
Edinburgh, Glasgow, Perth, and Aberdeen. In this sense, the royal burgh of Dundee was also created a ‘city’ by Royal Charter in
1889. Some of the other burghs which were formerly bishop's seats, or can show civitas in their early charters, have in recent
times claimed or assumed the style of ‘city’, though not generally so regarded.

The history of the word in Ireland is somewhat parallel. Probably all or most of the places having bishops have been styled on
some occasion civitas; but some of these are mere hamlets, and the term ‘city’ is currently applied only to a few of them which
are ancient and important boroughs. Thom's Directory applies it to Dublin, Cork, Londonderry, Limerick (‘City of the violated
treaty’), Kilkenny, and Waterford; also to Armagh and Cashel, but not to Tuam or Galway (though the latter is often called ‘the
City of the Tribes’). Belfast was, in 1888, created a ‘city’ by Royal Letters Patent.

In other lands now or formerly under British rule, ‘city’ is used sometimes more loosely, but often with more exact legal
definition than in England. In North America it usually connotes municipal autonomy or organization of a more complete or
higher kind than ‘town’. See 2d, 2e In India it is applied titularly to the three Presidency capitals, and to all great towns of
historic importance or note, as the seats of dynasties, etc., e.g. Benares, Delhi, Agra, Lucknow, Indore, Peshawur, etc.

The distinction is unknown to other Teutonic and (now) also to Romanic languages: German stadt, French ville, Italian citta,
Spanish ciudade, etc., translate both town and city.

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†1. orig. A town or other inhabited place. Not a native designation, but
app. at first a somewhat grandiose title, used instead of the Old English
burh, BOROUGH n. Frequently applied (after civitas of the Vulgate =
πόλις of N.T. & LXX.) to places mentioned in the Bible which were
really mere villages, e.g. Nazareth, Nain, Bethlehem; here, as a
literalism of translation, it still stands in Bible versions.
The earlier Wyclifite version had regularly burȝ toun, borow toun; for this the later version
(Purvey's) substituted citee. Only in Esther ix. 19 do we find borow townes, and in Gen. xiii. 12
townes retained.

?c1225 (1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C. 6) (1972) 168 Þe tur nis naut asaillet ne castel ne cite
hwen ha bið iwunnen.
c1250 Kentish Serm. in Old Eng. Misc. 26 Þe cite of bethleem.
a1325 (1250) Gen. & Exod. (1968) l. 2669 Memphin, dat riche cite.
a1340 R. ROLLE Psalter xvi. 12 Fforthkastand me out of þe cite.
a1425 (1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Josh. vii. 2 The citee [1382 burȝtown] Bethel.
a1425 (1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Deut. xii. 21 Thou schalt ete in thi citees
[1382 burȝtouns].
1535 W. STEWART tr. H. Boethius Bk. Cron. Scotl. II. 293 All the laif that duelt into that schire,
With euerie scitie that wes neir besyde.
1611 Bible (A.V.) Luke vii. 11 He went into a citie called Nain.

2. spec. A title ranking above that of ‘town’.

a. used vaguely, or of ancient or foreign places of note, as capitals, or


the like.

1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 9 No syte nor no sur stede soþli þei ne hadde.
c1380 Sir Ferumbras (1879) l. 283 Be it castel, burgh, outher Cite.
1398 J. TREVISA tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietat. Rerum (1495) XIV. ii. 486 The erthe
is aournyd wyth so many grete cytees and borughes.
c1440 Gesta Rom. (Harl.) xxv. 93 Plebeius was Emperoure Regning in the cete of Rome.
1481 Myrrour of Worlde (Caxton) II . iv. 68 An yle named Probane wherin ben founded ten cytees
and plente of other townes.
t
1535 Bible (Coverdale) Hab. ii. B, Wo vnto him, y buyldeth the towne with bloude, and
e
maynteneth y cite with vnrightuousnes [so Bps'. Bible and 1611; Wycliffite citee‥cytee].
1555 W. WATERMAN tr. J. Boemus Fardle of Facions Pref. 10 Of Tounes, thei made cities, and of
villages, Tounes.
1568 Bible (Bishops') 1 Sam. xxvii. 5 Let them geue me a place in some towne in the countrey‥for
why shoulde thy seruant dwel in the head citie of the kingdome.
1610 P. HOLLAND tr. W. Camden Brit. I . 69 The delightsome pleasures of Rome-Citie.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Henry VI, Pt. 1 (1623) III . vii. 45 Look on fertile France, And see the Cities and
the Townes defac't.
1709 G. BERKELEY Ess. New Theory of Vision §109. 124 Many Houses go to the making of one
City.
1777 W. ROBERTSON Hist. Amer. v, They saw a lake‥encompassed with large towns, and
discovered the capital city [Mexico] rising upon an island in the middle.
1844 A. W. KINGLAKE Eothen xviii. 277 Cairo, and Plague! During the whole time of my stay, the

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Plague was‥master of the city.


1860 N. HAWTHORNE Fr. & Ital. Jrnls. II. 302 A city in size and social advantages; quite so, indeed,
if eighty thousand people make a city.
1871 J. RUSKIN Munera Pulveris (1880) Pref. 8 The city of Paris‥supposed itself‥infinitely richer.

b. In England (see the historical sketch above).


The title appears to be properly relative to ‘town’, not to ‘borough’. ‘Cities’ and ‘towns’,
possessing a municipal corporation and local autonomy, are alike ‘boroughs’, though those
boroughs which are also cities may take precedence of those which are not.

c1300 Beket 1129 He wende fram Gra[nt]ham; fyve and tuenti myle also To the cite of Lincolne.
1377 LANGLAND Piers Plowman B. Prol. 160, I haue ysein segges, quod he, in þe cite of london
Beren biȝes ful briȝte.
1389 in T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 27 A bretherhode of barbres in þe site of
Norwyche.
1393 LANGLAND Piers Plowman C. I . 177 Ich haue yseie grete syres in Cytees and in tounes.
?a1400 Arthur 71 Arthour byseged þat Syte & town.
1473 J. WARKWORTH Chron. 2 And graunted to many cyteis and tounes new fraunschesses.
1552–3 Inv. Church Goods Staffs. in Ann. Lichfield IV. 68 Solde by the bayles and cominalte of
the sayd syttey of Lychefeld.
1641 Termes de la Ley 60 That place is commonly called Civitas, which hath a Bishop. Yet Master
Crompton in his Jurisdictions, where he reckoneth up all the Cities, leaveth out Elie,
although it hath a Bishop and a Cathedral Church, and putteth in Westminster,
notwithstanding that now it hath no Bishop.
1714 J. FORTESCUE-ALAND Fortescue's Governance of Eng. 65 (note) , My Lord Coke's Observation,
that every City is, or was, a Bishop's See, is not very exact; for Leicester which is called there a
City, never had a Bishop; nor had Gloucester at that time any Bishop, tho' it is called a City in
Domesday-book.
1889 FREEMAN in Macmillan's Mag. May 29 A little time back‥Birmingham and Dundee, hitherto
merely boroughs, were raised to the rank of cities.
1889 FREEMAN in Macmillan's Mag. May 30 A city does not seem to have any rights or powers as
a city which are not equally shared by every corporate town.

c. In Scotland and Ireland (see the historical sketch above).

1454 in J. Robertson Liber Collegii Glasguensis (1846) 176 Johne Steuart the first provest that
was in the cite of Glasgw.
1477 in C. Innes Reg. Episcopatus Glasguensis (1843) No. 453, Hed Court of the Burgh and Cite
of Glasgow.
1536 Cal. Anc. Rec. Dublin (1889) 497 Setye.
1581 Acts Parl. Sc. 29 Nov. cap. 60 (18‥) III. 239 The provest, baillies, counsall, and communitie
of the cietie of Sanctandrois.
1581 Acts Parl. Sc. 24 Oct. 121 Jas. VI (1597) , Barronnes alsweil within Regalitie as Royaltie, and
their Baillies to Landwart, and the Provestes and Baillies of all Burrowes and Cities.
1814 SCOTT Waverley II. xvi. 254 He‥approached the ancient palace of Holy-Rood, without having
entered the walls of the city.
1828 SCOTT Fair Maid of Perth i, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 26 The city was often the
residence of our monarchs‥although they had no palace at Perth.

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1828 SCOTT Fair Maid of Perth vii, in Chron. Canongate 2nd Ser. I. 182 The citizens of the town,
or, as they loved better to call it, the Fair City of Perth.
1840 C. J. LEVER Harry Lorrequer i, We were dined by the citizens of Cork‥a harder drinking set
of gentlemen no city need boast.
1884 W. E. GLADSTONE in Standard 29 Feb. 2/4 These works were within the precincts of the city
of Glasgow.
1889 Crown Charter, Dundee, We‥ordain‥that our said Burgh of Dundee shall henceforth and
forever hereafter be a City, and shall be called and styled the City of Dundee, and shall have
all such rank, liberties, privileges, and immunities as are incident to a City.
1889 Resol. of Town Council Dundee 5, That the Chief Magistrate of the City shall hereafter
resume and assume the style and title of Lord Provost.

d. in U.S.: ‘A town or collective body of inhabitants incorporated and


governed by a mayor and aldermen’ (Webster); but applied, in the
newer States, much more loosely (see quots.), and often given in
anticipation.
The legal characteristics of a city vary in different states. In some, e.g. Iowa, there are ‘cities of
the first class’ with above 15,000 inhabitants, ‘cities of the second class’ with above 2,000, and
‘incorporated towns’, differing respectively in the complexity of their municipal organization,
division into wards, and extent of municipal powers.

1843 F. MARRYAT Narr. Trav. M. Violet III. i. 7 It is strange that the name of city should be given
to an unfinished log-house, but such is the case in Texas; every individual possessing three
hundred acres of land calls his lot a city.
1867 W. H. DIXON New Amer. I. 36 In a couple of hours‥we are at Junction City; a city of six
wooden shanties where we alight.
1867 W. H. DIXON New Amer. xi. 125 At the head of these rolling prairies stands Denver, City of
the Plains. A few months ago (time runs swiftly in these western towns) Denver was a
wifeless city.
1882 E. A. FREEMAN in Longman's Mag. 1 89 In America a ‘city’ means what we should call a
corporate town or municipal borough.
1883 J. LAWRENCE Silverland 68 We reached Alta city—all mining camps are cities hereabouts.
1887 J. MACY (Iowa) Our Governmt. 51 The characteristic officers of a city are a mayor,
councilmen, police judges, and a marshall.
1889 N.E.D. at City, Mod. On a visit to New York city.

e. In the dominion of Canada: a municipality of the highest class.


Variously used in different provinces. In Ontario, a village, on its population exceeding 2,000,
has a right to be made a ‘town’, with Mayor and Councillors; a town, on reaching 15,000, has a
right to be erected into a ‘city’, whereby it is separated from the jurisdiction of the County
Council, and has a Mayor and Aldermen (instead of Councillors); but towns of smaller
population have also been erected into cities, by special acts of the legislature. In Quebec ‘town’
(= French ville) is the normal title for a place with municipal autonomy, but six places have
been incorporated by the legislature as ‘cities’, and have Aldermen, in addition to their Mayor
and Councillors. In New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, the term appears to be titular, and
conferred by special charter. In Manitoba it does not exist, ‘town’ (= French ville) being alone
recognized. In British Columbia, on the other hand, there are no ‘towns’, only ‘city’ and
‘township or district’ being legally recognized, the former having a Mayor, the latter a Reeve.

1876 Statutes of Quebec (38 Vict. c. 76 §5) There shall be elected‥four competent persons who
shall be called‥aldermen of the city of Three Rivers.

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1881 Stat. Br. Columbia c. 16 §10 In every municipality being a city a Mayor shall be elected, and
in every municipality being a township or district a Reeve shall be elected.
1887 Revised Stat. of Ontario c. 184 §19 In case it appears by the census returns‥that a town
contains over 15,000 inhabitants, the town may be erected into a city.
1887 Revised Stat. of Ontario c. 184 §68 The council of every city shall consist of the Mayor‥and
three aldermen for every ward.

f. City of Refuge, in the Mosaic dispensation, a walled town set apart


for the protection of those who had accidentally committed
manslaughter. Holy City, Jerusalem, esp. in connection with pilgrims
and crusaders. Eternal City, City of the Seven Hills, Rome: so
with many similar epithets, for which see their alphabetical places.

1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Matt. xxvii. 53 Thei‥camen in to the holy citee.
c1400 Mandeville's Trav. vii. 73 For to speke of Jerusalem, the Holy Cytee‥it stont full faire
betwene Hilles.
a1425 (1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Josh. xxi. 13 Ebron, a citee of refuyt [1382
fliȝt].
1611 Bible (A.V.) Josh. xx. 2 Appoint out for you cities of refuge.
1825 J. NEAL Brother Jonathan I. 286 Leave the man-slayer no city of refuge.
1844 A. W. KINGLAKE Eothen xvi. 216 The Pilgrims‥make their way as well as they can to the Holy
City.

g. Cities of the Plain (sc. of the Jordan), Sodom, Gomorrah, etc.,


before their destruction.

1611 Bible (A.V.) Gen. xiii. 12 Lot dwelled in the cities of the plaine, and pitched his tent toward
Sodome.

3.

a. transf. and fig. from 1, 2.

c1400 Rom. Rose 6275 Thou, hooly chirche, thou maist be wailed! Sith that thy citee is assayled.
v
1526 W. BONDE Pylgrimage of Perfection III . sig. BBBiiii , The capitans & knyghtes by whose
diligence grace buyldeth and holdeth these cytees in mannes soule.
1609 SHAKESPEARE Louers Complaint in Sonnets sig. K4, Long vpon these termes I held my Citty,
Till thus hee gan besiege me.
1843 F. MARRYAT Narr. Trav. M. Violet I. xi. 181 The [prairie] dogs never locate their towns or
cities except where it [sc.grass] grows in abundance.
1860 F. W. FARRAR Ess. Origin Lang. i. 19 The canoe of the savage has grown into the floating city
of nations.

b. Often applied to Paradise or the dwelling of God and the beatified,


as in Celestial City, Heavenly City, Holy City, City of God, the
last (civitas Dei) being also the title of a famous work of St. Augustine

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describing ‘an ideal city in the heavens’.

1382 WYCLIF Psalms xlvi. 4 [xlv. 5] The bure of the flod gladith the cite of God.
1382 WYCLIF Rev. xxi. 2 The holy citee Jerusalem, newe, comynge doun fro heuen of God.
1610 J. HEALEY tr. St. Augustine (title) Of the Citie of God.
1669 J. BUNYAN (title) , Holy Citie, or New Jerusalem.
1678 J. BUNYAN Pilgrim's Progress 122 Now the way to the Cœlestial City lyes just thorow this
Town [of Vanity], where this lusty Fair is kept.
1871 B. JOWETT in tr. Plato Dialogues II. 160* Such an ideal of a city in the heavens has always
hovered over the Christian world, and is embodied in St. Augustine's ‘De Civitate Dei’.

c. [Compare -VILLE comb. form.] Used as a suffix or final element


designating a person, situation, etc., as described by the preceding n. or
adj. U.S. slang.

1960 L. BUCKLEY Hiporama of Classics 49 With that wild incense flyin' all over the place and that
Buddha-headed moon pale Jazzmin colored flippin' the scene. It was Romance City.
1972 Time 17 Jan. 32/2 In a CBS-TV special called Funny Papers‥it turned out that Daddy
Warbucks is straight city, but Carroll O'Connor is pretty sexy.
1979 Rolling Stone 11 Jan. 86 All my life I'm taught by my family to keep it going, don't get boring
at the dinner table. When I learned I could do that by just being honest, whole vistas of
trouble opened up. I get on a talk show, I get talking and whoa! Trouble city!

4. The community of the inhabitants of a city.

1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) 1 Sam. iv. 13 That man after that he is goon yn, toolde to the cytee,
and al the citee ȝellide.
1490 CAXTON tr. Foure Sonnes of Aymon (1885) vi. 136 Whan the cyte vnderstode this, she began
to be sore moeved.
1513 T. MORE Hist. Edward V (1641) 135 To frame the Citty to their appetite.

5.

a. the City: short for the City of London, that part of London situated
within the ancient boundaries, including the liberties, or the districts
into which the municipal franchises and privileges extend, which is
under the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor and Corporation. Also the
corporation and citizens.

1556 in J. G. Nichols Chron. Grey Friars (1852) 14 Prestes, freeres, and other sage men of the
cytte.
1595 SHAKESPEARE Henry VI, Pt. 3 I . i. 67 Know you not the Cittie fauours them.
a1684 J. EVELYN Diary anno 1660 (1955) III. 241 Now were the Gates of the Citty broken-downe
by Gen: Monke, which exceedingly exasperated the Citty.
1722 D. DEFOE Jrnl. Plague Year 7 There died but three, of which not one within the whole City or
Liberties.
1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 110 London, in the large sense of the term, comprehends the City of

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London, within and without the walls, the city of Westminster, the borough of Southwark,
and the newly-created parliamentary boroughs of Finsbury, St. Mary-le-bone, the Tower
Hamlets, and Lambeth.
1849 T. B. M ACAULAY Hist. Eng. I. iii. 351 The City is no longer regarded by the wealthiest traders
with that attachment which every man naturally feels for his home‥Lombard Street and
Threadneedle Street are merely places where men toil and accumulate. They go elsewhere to
enjoy and to expend.
1884 B. SCOTT London Roll Fame 11 Within a few months he received the Freedom of the City.

b. More particularly, the business part of this, in the neighbourhood of


the Exchange and Bank of England, the centre of financial and
commercial activity. Hence, the commercial and business community
here located.

1621 in W. Notestein et al. Commons Debates (1935) II. 447 Though money be wanting in the
country yet it is in the City.
1621 in W. Notestein et al. Commons Debates (1935) VI. 321 They of the Citty to lay the riches
downe.
1751 T. SMOLLETT Peregrine Pickle IV. cv. 160 An order for thirty pounds upon the what-d'ye-
call-'em in the city.
1823 C. LAMB Elia i, Blind to the deadness of things (as they call them in the city).
1865 J. BRIGHT Speech Canada 13 Mar. (1868) 67 It is said that ‘the City’ joins in this
feeling‥Well, I never knew the City to be right.
c1875 ‘MRS. ALEXANDER’ Wooin' o't xxxiv, Garret and Oldham are going to smash‥They are
something in the City, are they not?

c. city and guilds: applied attrib. and in the possessive to


examinations set or qualifications awarded in technical subjects by the
City and Guilds of London Institute (constituted 1878; now part of
Imperial College, London); also absol. as n.

1939 British Baker 5 May 5/2 The City and Guilds' written and practical bread-making and
confectionery examinations are taking place.
1976 Daily Times (Lagos) 27 Aug. 16/1 (advt.) Supervisors: Minimum qualifications—City and
Guilds.
1977 Western Mail (Cardiff) 5 Mar. 11/1 (advt.) Ideally the successful applicants will‥have
completed the city and guilds radio and TV mechanic's course.

6. As the equivalent of Greek πόλις, Latin civitas, in the original sense


of a self-governing city or state with its dependencies.

1541 T. ELYOT Image of Gouernance xv. f. 27, Aristotle, in defynyng, what is a Citie, doth not cal it
a place builded with houses, & enuironned with walles, but saith, that it is a company, which
hath sufficiencie of liuing, and is constitute or assembled to the intent to lyue wel.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Coriolanus (1623) III . i. 199 What is the Citie, but the People? True, the
People are the Citie.
1651 T. HOBBES Philos. Rudim. v. §9 Union thus made is called a City, or Civill Society, and also a

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civill Person.
1751 Chambers's Cycl. (ed. 7) (at cited word), City, in speaking of antiquity, signifies a state, or
people, with all its dependencies constituting a particular republic.—Such as are, still, several
Cities of the empire, and the Swiss cantons.
1781 G IBBON Decline & Fall II. xvii. 69 The Ædui, one of the most powerful and civilized tribes or
cities of Gaul.
1847 G. GROTE Hist. Greece III. II . ix. 31 The restoration of a government of personal will in place
of that systematic arrangement known as the City.
1873 J. MORLEY Rousseau II. 101 We seem to be reading over again the history of a Greek city.

COMPOUNDS

General attrib. (Frequently with special reference to London.)

1. General attrib. Of, belonging, or pertaining to a city or the City.


(Often hyphened, as in next.)

c1300 K. Alis. 7543 They rideth dale and doune, That heo syghen a cite towne.
t
1389 in T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 7 W oute þe cite townes ende.
c1611 Second Maiden's Tragedy IV. iii, in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1875) X.
449 A great city-pie brought to a table.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Coriolanus (1623) I . xi. 31, I am attended at the Cyprus groue‥'Tis South the
City Mils.
a1616 SHAKESPEARE Timon of Athens (1623) III . vii. 67 Make not a Citie Feast of it.
1644 J. BULWER Chirologia 105 The Citie-people accustomed‥to approve the gesture of the Player.
a1657 G. DANIEL Trinarchodia: Henry V ccclxiv, in Poems (1878) IV. 192 While Cittie-
Liveries‥resolve it to their Cost.
a1704 T. BROWN Pleasant Epist. in Wks. (1707) I. ii. 5 Confirm our City-Youth in the true Principles
of their Ancestors.
1724 SWIFT Let. to Molesworth 11 Let me have‥Good City security against this Pestilent Coynage.
1729 POPE Dunciad (new ed.) I . 94 What City-Swans, once sung within the walls.
1787 J. HAWKINS Life Johnson in Wks. I. 434 To this person, as to a city-friend, Mr. Garrick held
himself obliged.
1847 TENNYSON Princess Concl. 101 The city-roar that hails Premier or king!
1864 TENNYSON Sea Dreams 5 Her clear germander eye Droopt in the giant-factoried city-gloom.
c1875 ‘MRS. ALEXANDER’ Wooin' o't xxxiv, The Bank rate is a sort of index to the state of City affairs.

C2. General comb.


a. Attributive.

city-bounds n.

1735 J. THOMSON Liberty I . 213 Within the *City-bounds the desert see.

city-clerk n.

1818 SCOTT Heart of Mid-Lothian vi, in Tales of my Landlord 2nd Ser. II. 140 ‘If this other wench,’

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said the *city-clerk, ‘can speak to her sister.’


1864 TENNYSON Sea Dreams 1 A city clerk, but gently born and bred.

† city-colony n. Obs.

1601 P. HOLLAND tr. Pliny Hist. World I. 413 As men go to the *city-colony erected by Sylla.

city-community n.

1848 J. S. MILL Princ. Polit. Econ. (1876) 10 The whole of these *city-communities were either
conquerors or conquered.

city-cross n.

city-dame n.

1598 J. MARSTON Metamorph. Pigmalions Image 5 The subtile *Citty-dame.

city-gate n.

a1616 SHAKESPEARE Two Gentlemen of Verona (1623) III . i. 251 Come, Ile conuey thee through the
*City-gate.

city-government n.

1656 J. HARRINGTON Common-wealth of Oceana 207 This alteration of the *City Government.

city-knight n.

1701 D. DEFOE True-born Englishman i. 25 Innumerable *City-Knights we know.


1761 G. COLMAN & D. GARRICK Cland. Marriage I . ii. 12, I have no patience with the pride of your
city-knights' ladies.

city-moat n.

1757 tr. J. G. Keyssler Trav. IV. 123 The dutchess's garden lies near the *city-moat.

city-soldier n.

city-solicitor n.

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1787 J. HAWKINS Life Johnson in Wks. I. 433 Mr. Paterson, the *city-solicitor.

city-wall n.

1712 R. STEELE Spectator No. 428. 1 Every great shop within the *City-walls.

city-way n.

1850 E. B. BROWNING My Doves xi, To move Along the *city-ways.

city-woman n.

a1616 SHAKESPEARE As you like It (1623) II . vii. 75 The *City woman beares The cost of Princes on
vnworthy shoulders.

city-work n.

b. Objective.

city-builder n.

city-burner n.

city-founder n.

1610 J. HEALEY tr. St. Augustine Citie of God 542 The humanists cannot agree about the first *City-
founder.

city-razer n.

c. Instr. and locative.

city-born adj.

1598 R. GRENEWEY tr. Tacitus Annales I . viii. 14 A multitude of *citie-borne bondmen, and after
made free.

city-bound adj.

1866 E. YATES Land at Last II. 113 *City-bound clerks.

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city-bred adj.

1885 Liverpool Daily Post 30 June 4/6 A *city-bred child.

city-crested adj.

city-dubbed adj.

a1640 P. M ASSINGER Bashful Lover IV. i. 48 in 3 New Playes (1655) , Five hundred *City-dub'd
Madams.

city-planted adj.

1
C3. Special comb. Ssee MARSHAL n., REMEMBRANCER n., WARD n. , etc.

city-marshal n.

a1640 P. M ASSINGER City-Madam (1658) IV. ii. 75 Sha, The *Citie-Marshal! Gol, And the Sheriff. I
know him.
1714 London Gaz. No. 5261/3, The two City Marshals on Horseback, with their Men on Foot to
make Way.
1761 Lond. & Environs IV. 265 City Marshal.‥ His business is to see the laws of the city put in
execution, and in solemn processions he rides before the Lord Mayor.

city-remembrancer n.

city-ward n.

C4.
1
city-arab n. (see ARAB n. 3).

1884 J. E. TAYLOR Sagacity of Plants 181 The *city Arabs who sell fusees in the streets.

City-article n. the editorial article or summary of financial and


commercial news in a London (or other) newspaper.

city-avens n. book-name for the plant Geum urbanum.

city centren. (see CENTRE n. and adj. 6a).

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1904 G. B. SHAW Common Sense of Municipal Trading viii. 73 In *city centres‥the [housing]
schemes are commercially hopeless.
1957 J. BRAINE Room at Top xxx. 244 The maze of side-streets off the city centre.
1958 Daily Express 11 Mar. 1/4 A city centre café.

City-commissioners n. officials who superintend the sewerage of the


City.

City Company n. one of the corporations that historically represent


the ancient trade guilds of London: see COMPANY n.

city-court n. a judicial court held in a city by the city magistrates; in


U.S. the municipal court of a city, consisting of the mayor or recorder
and aldermen (Webster).

city desk n. U.S. the department in a city newspaper office which deals
with local news.

1903 J. RALPH Making of Journalist xiii. 153 Around the walls are the desks‥the *city desks, the
suburban desk,‥and that of the managing editor.
1969 H. NIELSEN Darkest Hour vi. 69 We had a great paper, Charley,‥and largely because you were
on the city desk.

City-editor n. the editor of the City article and City news in a journal;
also U.S., the editor who superintends the collection and classification of
local news.

1834 Chambers's Jrnl. 3 390/1 Employed upon each are an editor; a sub-editor (in some also a
*city editor).
1858 P. L. SIMMONDS Dict. Trade Products, City Editor, the employee of a daily or weekly London
journal, whose special duty it is to report upon the prices of public securities, the state of the
money market, and other matters of commerce and finance.
1870 A. MAVERICK Henry J. Raymond & N.Y. Press 326 The City Editor, directs the work performed
by the reporters, whose duty is to gather all the local intelligence of the day.
1902 E. BANKS Autobiogr. Newspaper Girl ii. 9 You might try it on the city editor; but, mind you, I
can't promise that he'll print it.
1969 ‘D. RUTHERFORD’ Gilt-edged Cockpit x. 167 Often comment by the City Editors precipitated a
run on shares.

city father n. (a) (poet.), a civic ruler; (b) pl. (orig. U.S.) [compare
FATHER n. 10] , those responsible for the administration of a city; also
transf.

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1845 St. Louis Reveille 19 Jan. 2/4 Allow me to call the attention of our ‘*City Fathers’ to the
importance of erecting public hydrants on the Levee.
1962 Listener 10 May 820/2 Kline, de Kooning, and the other present City Fathers of American
painting.

city gent n. colloq. = city-man n. (b).

1786 R. BURNS Poems 205 Do ye envy the city-gent, Behind a kist to lie an' sklent.
1844 THACKERAY in New Monthly Mag. July 421 Once‥I heard a city ‘gent’ speak‥slightingly of a
glass of very excellent brown sherry.
1941 V. W OOLF Between Acts 60 Not a dapper city gent, but a cricketer.

city hall n. chiefly N. Amer. the chief municipal offices of a city; hence,
the municipal officers collectively.

1675 E. ANDROSS Let. 12 Oct. in F. B. Hough Easton's Narr. Causes Indian War (1858) 106 There
was at the *City Hall an Order of the last Gen[er]all Court of Assizes.
1754 in E. Singleton Social N.Y. (1902) 339 The books‥are placed for the present, by leave of the
Corporation, in their Library room in the City Hall.
1833 E. T. COKE Subaltern's Furlough iv, Of the public buildings, the City Hall, containing the
supreme court, mayor's court, and various public offices,‥is the most remarkable.
1922 J. JOYCE Ulysses II . 311 What did those tinkers in the cityhall‥decide about the Irish
language?
1930 J. DOS PASSOS 42nd Parallel v. 388 He slept on a bench in front of the City Hall.
1967 Listener 22 June 811/2 A month passes and City Hall makes an announcement.

city limits n. N. Amer. the boundaries of a city.

1841 Louisville Jrnl. 6 May 2/1 There are in the city proper but ten watchmen, and one in Portland,
making in all eleven for the *city limits.
1926 Daily Colonist (Victoria, Brit. Columbia) 16 July 1/5 One house was destroyed and the flames
were within a short distance of the city limits.
1968 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 17 Feb. 50/9 (advt.) Stouffville is situated 12 miles north of
metropolitan Toronto city limits.

city-lot n. U.S. a piece of ground lying within city bounds.

1683 W. PENN Let. Free Soc. Traders 9 The *City-Lot [is conveniently posted] for a Dock.
1829 R. C. SANDS Writings (1834) II. 169 The latter sat pensive and silent, while Miss Violet
discoursed‥about western lands and city lots.
1844 D. LEE & J. H. FROST Ten Years in Oregon vi. 79 The‥gentleman‥was selling off small city lots
at one hundred dollars a piece.
a1861 T. WINTHROP John Brent (1883) i. 6 They had been speculating in‥city lots.

city-man n. (a) a citizen; a man of the (same) city (cf. TOWNSMAN n.

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2b); (b) (also City-man) one engaged in ‘the City’ (sense 5) or in


mercantile pursuits.

c1300 K. Alis. 1618 The *cite-men weoren wel wyght.


a1661 T. FULLER Worthies (1662) Exeter 274 Being intimate with his City-man‥Baldwin of
Devonshire.
1836 DICKENS Sketches by Boz 1st Ser. I. 137 The regular City man, who leaves Lloyd's at five
o'clock, and drives home to Hackney, Clapton, Stamford-hill, or elsewhere.
1875 T. W. HIGGINSON Eng. Statesmen III . xvii. 350 He had made his mark in the mercantile world
as a thoroughly representative City-man.

city-mission n. a religious and benevolent mission to the poor and


abandoned classes of great cities.

1832 B. C. CUTLER (title) Sermon in behalf of the New York Protestant Episcopal City Mission
Society, preached on Oct. 14, 1832. By B. C. Cutler, A.M., City-Missionary.
1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 271/2 Within the last four years, ‘City Missions’ have been formed in London
and several of the large towns.
1851 H. MAYHEW London Labour I. 318/1 The *‘City Mission’‥might be made productive of real
and extensive good.
1851 H. MAYHEW London Labour I. 318/1 That the object of the London City Mission is most
noble,‥admits of no dispute.

city-missionary n.

1851 H. MAYHEW London Labour I. 21/2 They respect the *City Missionaries, because they read to
them.

city page n. the page of a newspaper which deals with financial and
business matters.

1966 ‘C. AIRD’ Relig. Body ix. 55 One of the largest private companies in the country.‥ They're
always getting write-ups in the *City pages suggesting they will be going public but they never
do.
1967 P. M. HUBBARD Custom of Country (1969) iv. 51 There was some sports news, a city page of
surprising sophistication and a sprinkling of‥foreign news.

† city-poet n. Obs. a poet appointed by the citizens of London (see


quots.).

1729 POPE Dunciad (new ed.) I . 88 (note) The Pageants‥being‥at length abolished, the
employment of *City Poet ceas'd.
1779 JOHNSON Dryden in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets III. 97 Settle was‥made the city poet, whose annual
office was to describe the glories of the Mayor's day. Of these bards he was the last.

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city-republic n. a city constituted as a republic.

1853 J. S. MILL in Edinb. Rev. 98 439 Her people obstinately rejected the merging of the single
*city-republic in any larger unity.
1933 A. N. WHITEHEAD Adventures of Ideas iii. 37 The Governments of the provincial regions‥and
City-Republics.

city slicker n. [compare SLICK adj.] orig. U.S. a smart and plausible
rogue, of a kind usu. found in cities; a smartly dressed or sophisticated
city-dweller.

1924 Cosmopolitan Nov. 104/2 You reckon I'm a goin' tew give that *city slicker back his option
money?
1938 P. G. WODEHOUSE Summer Moonshine viii. 92 It was a brooch or a sunburst from this city
slicker in the background.
1953 X. FIELDING Stronghold iii. 45 The two city-slickers were travelling on business.
1959 Manch. Guardian 13 July 5/7 He was dressed like a city slicker, pointed brown shoes,
trilby‥cut-away waistcoat.

city-state n. a city which is also an independent sovereign state.

1893 W. W. FOWLER (title) The *City-State of the Greeks and Romans.


1906 Daily Chron. 25 Nov. 2/5 Athens, a city-state that could always give rise to great men.
1968 G. JONES Hist. Vikings III . iv. 254 Northwards they had their city state of Novgorod and their
base at Staraja Ladoga.

city wire n. depreciative (now hist.) (in 17th cent. London) a woman of
a kind who follows the fashion of wearing a wire to support the hair or
1
ruff (see sense WIRE n. 14).

1616 B. JONSON Epicoene Prol. 23 in Wks. I, Cates‥some for lords, knights, squires, Some for your
waiting wench, and citie-wires.
1632 S. MARMION Hollands Leaguer II . iii, All the City wires, And Summer birds in Towne, that
once a yeare Come up to moulter.
1959 Rev. Eng. Stud. 10 239 ‘City wire’ was a term applied at this time to a London woman of the
citizen class because she wore a ruff supported with wire, a fashion which distinguished her
from the noblewoman.

DERIVATIVES

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ˈ citycism n. nonce-wd. city manners, etc.

1616 B. JONSON Cynthias Revels V. iv. 37 in Wks. I, Transform'd from his originall *citticisme.

ˈ citydom n. nonce-wd. a domain or state constituted by a city.

1862 R. H. PATTERSON Ess. Hist. & Art 460 The early Aryans‥resembled the Hellenic race‥in being
split up into a number of small States or *citydoms.

ˈ cityish n. nonce-wd. smacking of the city.

1881 C. E. L. RIDDELL Myst. Palace Gardens xxi. 194 Delightful people‥not *cityish or snobbish.

ˈ cityness n. nonce-wd. city quality.

a1661 T. FULLER Worthies (1662) Devon 264 They take exception at the very Title thereof,
Ecclesiastical Politie; as if unequally yoked; Church with some mixture of *City-nesse.

ˈ cityship n. nonce-wd. a city with its territory; cf. TOWNSHIP n.

1870 R. BLACK tr. Guizot Hist. France (1872) I. v. 77 Lugdunum‥became‥the favourite *cityship and
ordinary abiding-place of the emperors when they visited Gaul.

ADDITIONS SERIES 1993-7

city farm n. (a) U.S. any of various kinds of penal institution which
also function as a farm. (b) a farm established within an urban area for
educational purposes, as a museum, etc.

1910 B. FLEXNER in H. H. Hart Preventive Treatm. Neglected Children xviii. 289 The probation
officer keeps in touch with boys paroled from the City Farm School and Boys' Industrial School
and girls released from the Convent of the Good Shepherd.
1912 in Jrnl. Amer. Inst. Crim. Law & Criminol. (1927) 17 636 (title) First City farm for inebriates.
1977 Washington Post 8 Jan. E4/3 Martin escaped from a minimum security city farm in
Martinsville, Va., in 1973, two days after pleading guilty to two charges of possession of
marijuana with intent to sell.
1981 N.Y. Times 27 Aug. C12/1 Since 1976 one such group‥has maintained a thriving city farm
called El Sol Brillante Community Garden.
1990 Times 15 Feb. 35/1 Salford has a city farm and part of the county arboretum within its
borders, and 27 miles of rural footpaths through its urban heartland.

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DRAFT ADDITIONS SEPTEMBER 2006

city boy n. (a) a boy or man who is a native or inhabitant of a city, or


who prefers city life; (b) Brit. colloq. (with capital initial(s)) a man who
works in the financial sector, esp. (depreciative) one characterized as
materialistic, arrogant, or ill-mannered; cf. sense 5b.

1623 Let. 4 Apr. in S. M. Kingsbury Recs. Virginia Company (1935) IV. 99 What ys donne
e r
Concerninge y duty boyes, the *Cyttie boys, and the Cyttie maides, M Threasurer will informe
you.
1682 A. BEHN Roundheads 44 Rogues, the City-Boys are up in Arms; brave Boys, all for the King
now!
1789 W. BARRETT Hist. & Antiq. Bristol xi. 379 Poor city boys were sent to occupy the said ancient
school at St. Bartholomew's.
1852 Kenosha (Wisconsin) Democrat 6 Mar. 1/3 City boys being ‘smarter’ dressed, were sometimes
preferred by the Dutch girls.
1943 W. LEWIS Let. 26 Jan. (1963) 343 This war‥should have demonstrated that ‘the metal’ as the
City boys call it is anything but indispensable.
1998 R. NEWMAN Manners 189 A tiny hardening of the heart in a towel-flicking City boy as he
gang-bangs the currency.
2001 B. RAI (Un)arranged Marriage xviii. 143 I'm a city boy through and through‥. Living in a
village just wasn't my thing at all.

DRAFT ADDITIONS JUNE 2007

city break Brit. a short holiday spent in a city.

1973 Times 11 Aug. 10 (advt.) Get away this winter on a Golden Wing *city break.
1995 M. LEWIS Singapore: Rough Guide 3/2 There's an increasing number of package holidays
available, including fly-drive deals and city breaks.

DRAFT ADDITIONS SEPTEMBER 2006

city girl n. a girl or woman who is a native or inhabitant of a city, or


who prefers city life.

1690 Advice to Young Gentlemen 1/2 Let no *City-Girl your Freedom beguile.
1763 F. BROOKE Hist. Lady Julia Mandeville i. 75 Really these city girls are so rapid in their amours,
they won't give a man time to breathe.
1895 News (Frederick, Maryland) 15 Mar. 2/2 City girls are all right when it comes to dressing and
going to the theatre, but my experience is that a country girl has a better idea of domestic
happiness.
1999 T. PARSONS Man & Boy (2000) ix. 67 My mum didn't much mind the changes—she was a city
girl, and I can remember her complaining about our little town's lack of shops and a cinema

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when I was a kid.

DRAFT ADDITIONS DECEMBER 2002

city technology college n. (also with capital initials) Brit. Educ. any
of a number of secondary education colleges which specialize in
mathematics, science, and technology, established in urban areas with
funding from central government and sponsorship from industry, and
intended to promote high standards in technical and vocational
education; abbreviated CTC.

1986 Guardian 8 Oct. 1/2 More than 15,000 children will compete for places in a network of 20
state-funded ‘*city technology colleges’ announced yesterday by Mr Kenneth Baker‥at the
Conservative conference.
1992 G. WALFORD in P. W. Cookson et al. Internat. Handbk. Educ. Reform xii. 216 The City
Technology Colleges represent the most obvious moves to diversify the range of schools
available and to support and extend the private sector of education and the gradual
privatization of the maintained sector.
2000 Econ. Affairs 20 57/3 The principal of an outstanding City Technology College in a
working-class town‥told me how parents from far-flung wealthy suburbs‥were now first trying
to get their students into his school.

city, n.
Second edition, 1989; online version March 2011. <http://www.oed.com:80/Entry/33555>; accessed 05
April 2011. Earlier version first published in New English Dictionary, 1889.

Oxford University Press


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