township

English

Etymology

From Middle English towneship, townschip, tounshipe, tunscipe, from Old English tūnsċipe (“the inhabitants of a town; township”), equivalent to town +‎ -ship.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtaʊnʃɪp/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Noun

township (plural townships)

1. The territory of a town.
2. (US, Canada) a subdivision of a county.
3. (South Africa, Pre 1994) An area set aside for nonwhite occupation.
   • 1972, Daily Dispatch: "In addition, the council has completed the planning of a new Coloured township on the site of the existing African township"
4. (South Africa, Post 1994) A nonwhite (usually subeconomic) area attached to a city.
5. (Australia, New Zealand) a small town.

Usage notes

In the U.S. (derived from an obsolete UK usage), the term "township" refers to a division of a county, and may include one or more towns, villages, hamlets, or small cities. It may also be an administrative district for an unincorporated rural area. The exact nature of a township, and its role in local administration, differs from state to state.

Related terms

squatter camp

Descendants

• Portuguese: township

Translations

territory of a town

• Burmese: မြို့နယ် (my) (mrui.nai)
• Chinese:

  Esperanto: please add this translation if you can

  Hakka: please add this translation if you can

  Mandarin: 鎮區／镇区 (zh) (zhènqū), 镇区 (zh) (zhènqū)

  Min Nan: please add this translation if you can

• Czech: obec (cs) f
• Dutch: tuinschap f
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Finnish: kunta (fi), kaupunki (fi)
• German: Zaunschaft f
• Icelandic: bæjarfélag n, sveitarfélag n
• Latin: mūnicipium n
• Portuguese: municipalidade (pt) f
• Russian: городо́к (ru) m (gorodók), посёлок (ru) m (posjólok), месте́чко (ru) n (mestéčko)
• Spanish: municipio (es) m
• Swedish: stadsdel (sv) c (part of a town), kommundel c (part of a county), småstad (sv) c (small town), liten stad (sv) c (small town)

a subdivision of a county

• Hungarian: járás (hu)
• Spanish: municipio (es) m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Vietnamese: xã (vi)

area set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa

• Afrikaans: township
• Dutch: tuinschap f
• German: Zaunschaft f, Township n
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: township f
• Russian: та́уншип (ru) m (táunšip)

References

1978: A Dictionary of South African English edited by Jean Branford. Oxford.

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tawn.ʃip/

Noun

township m (plural townships)

1. township (in South Africa)
2. (Canada) canton

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Portuguese

Noun

township

1. (historical) township (area set aside for non-white occupation in South Africa)