townships

Noun

township (plural townships)

1. The territory of a town.
   • The train is usually crowded and half the township of Forres seems to turn out to watch it go off.1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23
2. (Canada, US) A subdivision of a county.
3. (South Africa) An area set aside for nonwhite occupation.
   • In addition, the council has completed the planning of a new Coloured township on the site of the existing African township.1972, Daily Dispatch
4. (South Africa, post-1994) A nonwhite (usually subeconomic) area attached to a city.
   • Growing up in the township of Zwide, just outside Port Elizabeth, bed for Kolisi was a pile of cushions on the living-room floor and finding enough to eat was a daily struggle. […] So, the man from the townships can certainly empathize with the pain lockdown is inflicting on the less fortunate in...2020 April 28, Christina Macfarlane, “‘There is nothing worse than hunger,’ says South Africa hero Siya Kolisi of helping townships during lockdown”, in CNN, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2025
5. (Australia, New Zealand) A small town.