township

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an administrative division of a county or other larger local-government area

   Residents elected three trustees to govern the township.

2. 2
   noun

   the territory or community associated with a town

   The whole township gathered for the annual fair.

3. 3
   noun

   in southern Africa, an urban residential area historically designated for nonwhite residents under segregation

   The museum records daily life in the township during apartheid.

From Middle English township and Old English tunscipe, combining town with -ship ("state, condition, collective body"). Its administrative meanings developed from the inhabitants and territory belonging to a town.

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