township

T1O1W4N1S1H4I1P3
UK/ˈtaʊnʃɪp/

noun

The territory of a town.

Similar
CommonScrabble 16

Meanings

nountownship (plural townships)

plural townships

  1. The territory of a town.

    Tondop said the township of Mendi is slowly getting back to normal.

    2018 June 18, Joshua Berlinger, “Papua New Guinea declares 9-month state of emergency due to riots”, in CNN, archived from the original on 27 Jan 2022
    2 more examples

    The train is usually crowded and half the township of Forres seems to turn out to watch it go off.

    1944 January and February, W. McGowan Gradon, “Forres as a Railway Centre”, in Railway Magazine, page 23

    Furthermore, everyone knows that the crops grown at Chou-Shui River are of high quality, like the rice of Siluo Township, watermelons of Erlun Township, garlic of Cihtong Township, flowers of Shijo Township, guava of Shetou Township, and so on.

    2010, Rajib Shaw, Danai Thaitakoo, Water Communities, Emerald Books, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 252
  2. CanadaUSA subdivision of a county.
  3. South AfricaAn area set aside for nonwhite occupation.

    In addition, the council has completed the planning of a new Coloured township on the site of the existing African township.

    1972, Daily Dispatch
  4. South Africapost-1994A nonwhite (usually subeconomic) area attached to a city.
    1 more example

    Growing up in the township of Zwide, just outside Port Elizabeth, bed for Kolisi was a pile of cushions on the living-room floor and finding enough to eat was a daily struggle. […] So, the man from the townships can certainly empathize with the pain lockdown is inflicting on the less fortunate in his country.

    2020 April 28, Christina Macfarlane, “‘There is nothing worse than hunger,’ says South Africa hero Siya Kolisi of helping townships during lockdown”, in CNN, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2025
  5. AustraliaNew ZealandA small town.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan administrative division of a county

Similar
Broader
administrative districtadministrative divisionterritorial division
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Englishtūnsċipe“the inhabitants of a town; township”
  2. Middle Englishtowneship
  3. Englishtownship

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

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans township
  • townshiparea set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa
Bulgarian селище, община
  • селище (selište)territory of a town
  • община (obština)a subdivision of a county
Chinese Mandarin 鎮區 /镇区
  • 鎮區 /镇区 (zhènqū)territory of a town
Czech obec
  • obecterritory of a town
Dutch tuinschap, kanton
  • tuinschapterritory of a town
  • kantona subdivision of a county
  • tuinschaparea set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa
Finnish kunta, kaupunki
  • kuntaterritory of a town
  • kaupunkiterritory of a town
French canton
  • cantona subdivision of a county
German Township, Kanton
  • Townshipterritory of a town
  • Kantona subdivision of a county
  • Zaunschaftarea set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa
  • Townshiparea set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa
Hungarian járás
  • járása subdivision of a county
Icelandic bæjarfélag, sveitarfélag
  • bæjarfélagterritory of a town
  • sveitarfélagterritory of a town
Italian cantone
  • cantonea subdivision of a county
Latin mūnicipium
  • mūnicipiumterritory of a town
Portuguese municipalidade, township
  • municipalidadeterritory of a town
  • townshiparea set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa
Russian городо́к, посёлок
  • городо́к (gorodók)territory of a town
  • посёлок (posjólok)territory of a town
  • месте́чко (mestéčko)territory of a town
  • та́уншип (táunšip)area set aside for nonwhite occupation in South Africa
Spanish municipio, municipio
  • municipioterritory of a town
  • municipioa subdivision of a county
Swedish stadsdel, kommundel
  • stadsdelterritory of a town
  • kommundelterritory of a town
  • småstadterritory of a town
  • liten stadterritory of a town
Vietnamese xã
  • xãa subdivision of a county
Cite this entry
APA

township. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/township

MLA

“township.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/township. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “township,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/township.

Source: township on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.