city

• citie, cittie, cyte, cytee (obsolete)

From Middle English cite, from Old French cite, 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.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsɪti/
  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): [ˈsɪtʰiː]

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

  • (Northern England, Conservative RP) IPA^(key): /sɪtɪ/
  • (US, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsɪti/, [ˈsɪɾi]

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ci‧ty
• Rhymes: -ɪti

city (plural cities)

2. 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.

   • 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, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 147, column 2:

     Ah, knovv you not the Citie fauours them, / And they haue troupes of Souldiers at their beck?

   • 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     So this was my future home, I thought! […] Backed by towering hills, the but faintly discernible purple line of the French boundary off to the southwest, a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.

   • 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:

     One of the hidden glories of Victorian engineering is proper drains. Isolating a city’s effluent and shipping it away in underground sewers has probably saved more lives than any medical procedure except vaccination.

   • 2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, page 42:

     All our stations have changed. We have to constrain numbers. We have to mandate face coverings. These are massive changes in what is a public transport city. This is not a car city.

3. (UK) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
   • 1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 20:

     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.

   • 2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 307:

     St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.

4. (Australia) The central business district; downtown.

   I'm going into the city today to do some shopping.

5. (slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).

   It’s video game city in here!

• settlement

English terms starting with “city”

• → French: City
• → German: City
• → Italian: city
• → Swedish: city
• → Russian: си́ти (síti)

• "city" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 55.

• ICTY

• IPA^(key): [ˈt͡sɪtɪ]

city

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of cit

From English city

• IPA^(key): /ˈsiti/, [ˈs̠it̪i]
• Rhymes: -iti

city

1. (anglicism) Synonym of liikekeskusta (“central business district”)

compounds

• city­kani
• city­karhu
• city­kulttuuri
• city­maasturi

Unadapted borrowing from English city. Doublet of città.

• IPA^(key): /ˈsi.ti/^[1]
• Rhymes: -iti

city f (invariable)

1. city (financial district of a city)

• city bike
• city car
• city manager

city

1. Alternative form of cite

Borrowed from English city.

• Audio:

  (file)

city n

1. inner city, the commercial centre of a medium-sized or larger city

   Lite närmare city, i närheten av konstmuseet, ligger Norrköpings mest attraktiva lägenheter

   A little closer to the town centre, next to the art museum, you'll find Norrköping's most attractive apartments

   Det finns mycket att förbättra i vårt city

   There are many things that need improvement in our inner city

   • 1991, Bobby Ljunggren, Håkan Almqvist, Eva Lindblad (lyrics and music), “Sommaren i city [[The] summer in the city]”‎^[1]performed by Angel:

     Sommaren i city 1990 – kommer du ihåg mig? Minns du vad som hände? Minns du vad du sa när du träffade mig? Kommer du ihåg mig – 1990, sommaren i city? Minns du var vi var? Och minns du vad vi sa?

     [The] summer in the city ["sommar i city" would literally be "summer in the city," but "the summer in the city" sounds a bit unidiomatic], 1990 ["in 1990" – Swedish skips the "in"] – do you remember me? Do you remember what happened? Do you remember what you said when you met me? Do you remember me – 1990, [the] summer in the city? Do you remember where we were? And do you remember what we said?

• centrum is used for the commercial centre of suburbs and small or medium-sized towns.

• centrum
• innerstad

• city in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• city in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)