- City
- City Cit"y (s[i^]t"[y^]), n.; pl. {Cities} (s[i^]t"[i^]z).
[OE. cite, F. cit['e], fr. L. civitas citizenship, state,
city, fr. civis citizen; akin to Goth. heiwa (in heiwafrauja
man of the house), AS. h[imac]wan, pl., members of a family,
servants, h[imac]red family, G. heirath marriage, prop.,
providing a house, E. hind a peasant.]
1. A large town.
[1913 Webster]
2. A corporate town; in the United States, a town or collective body of inhabitants, incorporated and governed by a mayor and aldermen or a city council consisting of a board of aldermen and a common council; in Great Britain, a town corporate, which is or has been the seat of a bishop, or the capital of his see. [1913 Webster]
A city is a town incorporated; which is, or has been, the see of a bishop; and though the bishopric has been dissolved, as at Westminster, it yet remaineth a city. --Blackstone [1913 Webster]
When Gorges constituted York a city, he of course meant it to be the seat of a bishop, for the word city has no other meaning in English law. --Palfrey [1913 Webster]
3. The collective body of citizens, or inhabitants of a city. ``What is the city but the people?'' --Shak.
Syn: See {Village}. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
