English
town
Town comes from Old English tūn ‘enclosure’, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, an early borrowing from Proto-Celtic *dūnom ‘stronghold, rampart’.
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*dūnom‘stronghold, rampart’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tūną‘fence, enclosure’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tūn‘fence’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tūn‘an enclosed piece of ground’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500toun‘a town or city’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897town
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*dūnom‘stronghold, rampart’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*tūną‘fence, enclosure’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*tūn‘fence’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tūn‘an enclosed piece of ground’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500toun‘a town or city’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897town
Earliest quotation: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Judge Short had gone to town, and Farrar was…”
The story
Inherited from Middle English toun, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic *tūn, from Proto-Germanic *tūną, borrowed from Proto-Celtic *dūnom (‘stronghold, rampart’), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *duh₂-nós (‘lasting, durable’), from *dewh₂- (‘to last’) + *-nós.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂- ‘to fit’
beautiful, beauty, ben, bonus, dynamic, tool, beneficial, rebel, optimal, boo, dynasty, bonnie, optimism, beau, boon, beneficiary, bona, dynamo, revel, bello, bene, bonny, dynastic, tow, taw, bauble, bellicose, bonbon, 97 more
through Proto-Celtic *dūnom ‘stronghold, rampart’
through Proto-West Germanic *tūn ‘fence’
through Old English tūn ‘an enclosed piece of ground, an enclosure or…’
through Middle English toun ‘a town or city’
Today it means
noun A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Celtic *dūnom / town