English
municipality
Municipality comes from Latin municipalis ‘municipal’, from municipium ‘free city, township’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘to attach, bind, strengthen’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*moy-nósreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moinos‘service’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūnus‘duty, service’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmuniceps‘citizen of a free city or township’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmunicipium‘free city, township’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmunicipalis‘municipal’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmunicipalité
- Englishearliest quotation 1918municipality
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*mey-‘to attach, bind, strengthen’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*moy-nósreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*moinos‘service’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEmūnus‘duty, service’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmuniceps‘citizen of a free city or township’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmunicipium‘free city, township’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEmunicipalis‘municipal’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentmunicipalité
- Englishearliest quotation 1918municipality
Earliest quotation: 1918, William Babington Maxwell, Indianapolis: “From another point of view, it was a place…”
Formed from municipal + -ity
Latin mūniceps ‘a citizen, an inhabitant of a free town’
Latin mūnicipālis ‘of or belonging to a citizen or a free town’
French municipal
English municipal
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to attach, bind, strengthen’
mean, common, met, minute, commission, minister, community, minor, mess, ministry, min, meal, communication, menu, commit, compromise, missile, mere, minus, mutual, communist, dismiss, premise, communicate, mole, ammo, mayhem, ammunition, communism, noodle, moor, communal, intermittent, communion, mural, commune, mite, omit, minstrel, meiosis, 76 more
through Latin mūnus ‘duty, service’
Today it means
noun A district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts; a borough, city, or incorporated town or village.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *mey- / municipality