downtown

See also: down-town

English

Etymology

From down +‎ town.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: down‧town
• Rhymes: -aʊn

Adjective

downtown (not comparable)

1. Of, relating to, or situated in the central business district

   John walked every day to his downtown job.

   • 2017 April 6, Samira Shackle, “On the frontline with Karachi’s ambulance drivers”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     “Human flesh got stuck to me,” he recalls now, as we sit in the ambulance control centre in downtown Karachi.

Adverb

downtown (not comparable)

1. In or towards the central business district.

   You need to go downtown four blocks.

   • 1964, Tony Hatch (lyrics and music), “Downtown”, performed by Petula Clark:

     When you're alone and life is making you lonely / You can always go downtown

2. (basketball) Outside the three-point line, or generally far from the basket.

   That shot came from way downtown!

Derived terms

• go downtown

Translations

in, or towards the central business district

• Finnish: keskustassa oleva, keskusta-
• French: centre-ville (fr) m
• German: in der Innenstadt f (location); in die Innenstadt f (direction)
• Portuguese: centro (pt) m
• Scots: dountoun
• Vietnamese: dưới phố

(basketball): outside the three-point line, or generally far from the basket

Noun

downtown (plural downtowns)

1. (chiefly US, Canada) The main business part of a city or town, usually located at or near its center.

   Synonyms: city center, town centre, central business district, (Australia) city

2. (US, slang) The human genitalia.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:vulva, Thesaurus:vagina

3. (slang) heroin.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:heroin

Translations

either the lower, or the business center of a city or town

• Afrikaans: middestad
• Bulgarian: це́нтър на гра́да m (céntǎr na gráda)
• Catalan: centre (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 市中心 (zh) (shìzhōngxīn), 中央商業區／中央商业区 (zhōngyāng shāngyèqū)

• Dutch: binnenstad (nl) m, stadscentrum (nl) n, centrum (nl) n
• Esperanto: urbocentro, urbomezo
• Faroese: miðbýur
• Finnish: keskusta (fi), ydinkeskusta (fi)
• French: centre-ville (fr) m, quartier d’affaires m
• Galician: centro (gl) m
• Georgian: ქალაქის ცენტრალური ნაწილი (kalakis cenṭraluri nac̣ili), ქალაქის საქმიანი ნაწილი (kalakis sakmiani nac̣ili), ქალაქის საქმიანი რაიონი (kalakis sakmiani raioni), ცენტრალური ნაწილი (cenṭraluri nac̣ili), საქმიანი ნაწილი (sakmiani nac̣ili), საქმიანი რაიონი (sakmiani raioni), ქალაქის ცენტრი (kalakis cenṭri)
• German: Stadtmitte (de) f, Innenstadt (de) f, Stadtzentrum (de) n, Zentrum (de) n, City (de) f
• Greek: αγορά (el) f (agorá), κέντρο (el) n (kéntro)
• Hungarian: belváros (hu)
• Icelandic: miðborg f, miðbær m
• Indonesian: pusat kota
• Italian: centro (it) m
• Japanese: ダウンタウン (dauntaun), 町 (ja) (まち, machi), 中心部 (ちゅうしんぶ, chūshinbu), 中心業務地区 (ちゅうしんぎょうむちく, chūshin gyōmu chiku)
• Khmer: ទីប្រជុំជន (tibrachoumchon)
• Korean: 시내 (ko) (sinae), 도심 (ko) (dosim)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: ناوشار (nawşar)

• Lao: ຕົວເມືອງ (tūa mư̄ang)
• Latin: media urbs f
• Macedonian: це́нтарот на гра́дот n (céntarot na grádot)
• Malay: pusat bandar
• Polish: śródmieście (pl) n, centrum miasta n
• Portuguese: centro (pt), baixa (pt) f
• Romanian: centru (ro) n (comercial) de oraș
• Russian: центр (ru) m (centr), центр го́рода (ru) m (centr góroda), делова́я часть го́рода f (delovája častʹ góroda), си́ти m (síti)
• Spanish: centro (es) m, centro de ciudad m
• Swedish: innerstad (sv), centrum (sv), city (sv)
• Tagalog: bayanan, gitnambayan, gitnambalen, kabayanan, kabalinan
• Turkish: şehir merkezi (tr), kent merkezi
• Ukrainian: середмі́стя n (seredmístja)
• Vietnamese: khu trung tâm thành phố, khu vực trung tâm thành phố, nội thành (vi)
• Yiddish: אונטערשטאָט f (untershtot)

See also

• uptown
• oldtown

References

• Jonathon Green (2024) “downtown n.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Eric Partridge (2005) “downtown”, in Tom Dalzell and Terry Victor, editors, The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, volume 1 (A–I), London, New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 647.

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English downtown.

Noun

downtown m (invariable)

1. downtown (financial district)

   Synonym: city