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TOWN

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Originally appearing in Volume V27, Page 111 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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TOWN , in its most See also:

general sense, a collection or See also:aggregation of inhabited houses larger than a See also:village. The O. Eng. See also:tun (M. Eng. toun) meant originally a fence or enclosure, cf. Ger. zaun, hedge, hence an enclosed See also:place. The Scottish and See also:Northern See also:English use of the word for a farmhouse and its buildings, a farmstead, preserves this See also:original meaning, and is paralleled by the Icel. tun, See also:homestead, dwelling-See also:house. A cognate See also:Celtic See also:form meaning a fastness, a strong place, appears in Gael. and Irish dun, Welsh, din, fortress, See also:hill-fort (cf. Welsh dinas, town). This is See also:familiar from the many Latinized names of places, e.g. Lugdunum, A ugustod unum, &c. In English See also:law "town" is not a word defined by See also:statute. For purposes of See also:local See also:government there are boroughs, See also:urban districts and rural districts, but many urban districts are rural in See also:character and the distinction is purely an administrative one (see See also:BOROUGH; See also:CITY; See also:COMMUNE (See also:MEDIEVAL); See also:MUNICIPIUM; See also:ENGLAND: Local Government, and the sections on local See also:administration under various See also:country headings).

The meaning attached to the See also:

term " township " in the local administration of the See also:United States is treated under UNITED STATES: Local Government.

End of Article: TOWN

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