Word.ws English Dictionary

city

Syllables: cit·y/ˈsɪti/[ˈsɪtʰiː]

city noun: a large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

city: a large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on...
Image: Ibagli, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

city (plural cities)

  1. A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.
    • São Paulo is the largest city in South America.
    • Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?c. 1591–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Third Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard...
  2. (UK, historical) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
    • Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 20
    • St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 307
  3. (Australia) The central business district; downtown.
    • I'm going into the city today to do some shopping.
  4. (slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).
    • It’s video game city in here!

Proper noun (1) capitalized: City

City

  1. (informal) Manchester City Football Club, an English football club.
    • City will reportedly look to have a fee for Aguero.
    • Smalling’s quick one-two of yellow cards towards the end of the first half had left an air of inevitability about what would follow and, if anything, it was probably a surprise that City restricted themselves to Sergio Agüero’s goal bearing in mind another of United’s defenders, Marcos Rojo, was...2014 November 2, Daniel Taylor, “Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United”, in The Guardian

Proper noun (2) capitalized: City

the City

  1. (UK) The City of London, the historic core of London where the Roman settlement of Londinium was established.
    Synonyms:
    the Square Mile
  2. (UK) The United Kingdom's financial industries, which are principally based in the City of London.
  3. (New-York) The borough of Manhattan, the historic core of New York.
  4. Any of several other cities in metropolitan areas (such as San Francisco).

city meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

city in Hindi

large settlement
शहर śahar, नगर nagar

city in Tamil

large settlement
நகரம் nakaram

city in Marathi

large settlement
शहर śahar, नगर nagar

city in Urdu

large settlement
شَہَر śahar, نَگَر nagar
More languagesFewer languages
city in Bengali
শহর śohor, নগর nogor
city in Telugu
నగరం nagaraṁ
city in Malayalam
നഗരം nagaraṁ
city in Kannada
ನಗರ nagara
city in Punjabi
ਸ਼ਹਿਰ śahir
city in Gujarati
શહેર śaher, નગર nagar
city in Odia
ନଗର nagara, ମହାନଗର mahānagara, ସହର sahara
city in Sanskrit
नगर nagara
city in Sinhala
නගරය nagaraya
city in Assamese
নগৰ nogor, চহৰ sohor
city in Nepali
सहर sahar
city in Pashto
ښار ẍâr
city in Tagalog
lungsod, syudad
city in Arabic
مَدِينَة madīna, بَلَد balad
city in Malay
bandar raya, kota, bandar
city in Indonesian
kota
city in Thai
เมือง mʉʉang, นคร ná-kɔɔn, กรุง grung, เชียง chiiang
city in Vietnamese
thành phố, thành, phố, đô thị
city in Myanmar
မြို့ mrui.
Dhivehi
ޝަހަރު šaharu

Examples of city in a sentence

  • Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
  • These are massive changes in what is a public transport city.2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, page 42:

All 40 example sentences with city

Synonyms of city

  • the Square Mile

Antonyms

Forms of city

pluralcities
alternative form (obsolete)citie
alternative form (obsolete)cittie
alternative form (obsolete)cyte
alternative form (obsolete)cytee

Plural of city: cities

Origin of city

Inherited from Middle English cite, derived from Old French cite, derived from Late Latin cīvitātem (“city”), in Classical Latin "citizenry", derived from cīvis (“fellow-citizen”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“lie down; settle”). Cognate with Old English hīwan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas. Mostly displaced native Old English burg, whence Modern English borough.

Words formed from city

Phrases with city

173 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with city

24 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about city

What does city mean?
City means a large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.
What is city in Hindi?
City in Hindi is शहर (śahar), नगर (nagar). See City meaning in Hindi.
How do you use city in a sentence?
Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.
What part of speech is city?
City can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce city?
City is pronounced /ˈsɪti/.
What is the plural of city?
The plural of city is cities.

Words near city in the dictionary

  1. cittizen
  2. cittizens
  3. cittosis
  4. citty
  5. CITV
  6. city
  7. city administrator
  8. city administrators
  9. city and county
  10. City and County of Broomfield
  11. City and County of Denver

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: city (page history and authors); City (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-city.ogg, en-us-city.ogg, EN-AU ck1 city.ogg.

Cite this entry: “city.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/city. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.