City Meaning
/ˈsɪti/Definition, CEFR level A1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounA large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.
nounA settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
Sentence Examples
Paris is the most beautiful city in the world.
Florence is the most beautiful city in Italy.
Parking is difficult in the city centre.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient ____ had massive stone walls and a central market.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We decided to move to the ____ because we wanted to be closer to work.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 147, column 2:
"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."
— 1908, W[illiam] B[lair] M[orton] Ferguson, chapter IV, in Zollenstein, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
"But clever cities will not necessarily be better ones."
— 2013 September 7, “The multiplexed metropolis”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8852:
"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."
— 2014 June 14, “It's a gas”, in The Economist, volume 411, number 8891:
"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."
— 2020 July 15, Mike Brown talks to Paul Clifton, “Leading London's "hidden heroes"”, in Rail, page 42:
Explore More A1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ancient ____ had massive stone walls and a central market.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
We decided to move to the ____ because we wanted to be closer to work.