Meanings
plural municipalities
- A district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts; a borough, city, or incorporated town or village.
1 more example
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on May 29 that Louisville was one of more than 600 municipalities across the U.S. accused of obstructing immigration enforcement. The federal government called these locations “sanctuary jurisdictions,” alleging they were undermining the rule of law. Four Kentucky counties also made the list: Campbell, Franklin, Jefferson and Scott.
2025 July 22, Connor N. Smith, Mason Brighton, “Louisville drops sanctuary city status after DOJ pressure”, in Spectrum News, archived from the original on 20 Aug 2025 - The governing body of such a district.
From another point of view, it was a place without a soul. The well-to-do had hearts of stone; the rich were brutally bumptious; the Press, the Municipality, all the public men, were ridiculously, vaingloriously self-satisfied.
1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XXII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC - governmentIn the Philippines and in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking countries, second-level administrative divisions that may house one or more cities or towns whose head of government may be called mayors or, in Mexico, municipal presidents.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Latinmunicipalis
- Frenchmunicipalité
- Englishmunicipality
Borrowed from French municipalité (Edmund Burke), from municipal + -ité, from Latin municipalis, from municipium (“free city, township”), from municeps (“citizen of a free city or township”), from mūnus (“duty, service”) + -ceps (“taker, catcher”). Equivalent to municipal + -ity.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans munisipaliteit
- munisipaliteita district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Arabic بَلَدِيَّة, بَلَدِيَّة
- بَلَدِيَّة (baladiyya)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- بَلَدِيَّة (baladiyya)the governing body of such a district
Basque udalerri
- udalerria district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Bengali পৌরসভা
- পৌরসভা (pōurśobha)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Bulgarian община́
- община́ (obštiná)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Catalan municipi
- municipia district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Chinese Mandarin 直轄市 /直辖市
- 直轄市 /直辖市 (zhíxiáshì)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Czech obec
- obeca district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Danish kommune
- kommunea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Dutch gemeente, gemeente
- gemeentea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- gemeentethe governing body of such a district
Esperanto municipo
- municipoa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Estonian munitsipaliteet, linnavalitsus
- munitsipaliteeta district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- linnavalitsusa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Finnish kunta, kunnanhallitus
- kuntaa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- kunnanhallitusthe governing body of such a district
French municipalité
- municipalitéa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
German Gemeinde, Munizipalität
- Gemeindea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- Munizipalitäta district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Greek δήμος
- δήμος (dímos)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Hebrew עירייה
- עירייהa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Hindi नगरपालिका, नगरपालिका
- नगरपालिका (nagarpālikā)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- नगरपालिका (nagarpālikā)the governing body of such a district
Hungarian település, közigazgatási terület
- településa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- közigazgatási területa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- városa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- községa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- helyhatóságthe governing body of such a district
- önkormányzatthe governing body of such a district
- elöljáróságthe governing body of such a district
- törvényhatóságthe governing body of such a district
Icelandic sveitarfélag, sveitarstjórn
- sveitarfélaga district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- sveitarstjórnthe governing body of such a district
Irish bardasacht, cathair bhardais
- bardasachta district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- cathair bhardaisa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- baile bardaisa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- bardasthe governing body of such a district
Italian comune, municipalità
- comunea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- municipalitàa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- giunta comunalethe governing body of such a district
Japanese 自治体
- 自治体 (jichitai)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Korean 자치체
- 자치체 (jachiche)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Latin mūnicipium
- mūnicipiuma district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Latvian municipalitāte
- municipalitātea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Lithuanian savivaldybė
- savivaldybėa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Norwegian Bokmål kommune
- kommunea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Persian شهرداری, شهرداری
- شهرداری (šahrdâri)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- شهرداری (šahrdâri)the governing body of such a district
Polish gmina, gmina
- gminaa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- gminathe governing body of such a district
Portuguese município, comuna
- municípioa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- comunaa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- governo municipalthe governing body of such a district
Romanian municipalitate
- municipalitatea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Russian муниципалите́т, комму́на
- муниципалите́т (municipalitét)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- комму́на (kommúna)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- общи́на (obščína)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Slovak obec
- obeca district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Spanish municipio
- municipioa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Swahili manispaa
- manispaaa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Swedish kommun
- kommuna district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Tagalog munisipalidad, bayan
- munisipalidada district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- bayana district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- munisipyothe governing body of such a district
Tamil நகராட்சி, நகராட்சி
- நகராட்சி (nakarāṭci)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
- நகராட்சி (nakarāṭci)the governing body of such a district
Thai เทศบาล
- เทศบาล (têet-sà-baan)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Turkish belediye
- belediyea district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Ukrainian муніципаліте́т
- муніципаліте́т (municypalitét)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Urdu بلدیہ
- بلدیہ (baldiya)a district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Vietnamese khu tự quản
- khu tự quảna district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Welsh bwrdeistref
- bwrdeistrefa district with a government that typically encloses no other governed districts
Cite this entry
municipality. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/municipality
“municipality.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/municipality. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “municipality,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/municipality.
Source: municipality on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.