English
township
Township comes from Old English tūnsċipe ‘the inhabitants of a town’, and goes back to tūn.
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tūn‘town’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150tūnsċipe‘the inhabitants of a town’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500towneship
- Englishearliest quotation 1944township
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Old Englishc. 450–1150tūn‘town’
- Old English, derivedc. 450–1150tūnsċipe‘the inhabitants of a town’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500towneship
- Englishearliest quotation 1944township
Earliest quotation: 1944, and February, Forres as a Railway Centre: “The train is usually crowded and half the township…”
Formed from town + -ship
Proto-Celtic *dūnom ‘stronghold, rampart’
Proto-Germanic *tūną ‘fence, enclosure’
Proto-West Germanic *tūn ‘fence’
Old English tūn ‘an enclosed piece of ground’
Middle English toun ‘a town or city’
English town
Linked words
through Old English tūn ‘town’
Today it means
noun The territory of a town.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old English tūn / township