Meanings
plural townsmen
- A man who is a resident of a town, especially of one's own town.
Two independent witnesses would testify that he carried no parcel. They were townsmen of St. Abbots who had travelled down in the same carriage with him.
1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC1 more example
Largely by reason of the persistence of John Crevallier Cobbold, a leading townsman and a member of a respected Suffolk family, the scheme was brought to fruition and by an Act dated July 19, 1844, the Eastern Union Railway came into existence.
1946 September and October, “Centenary of the Ipswich-Colchester Line”, in Railway Magazine, page 307Synonyms: city dweller
- A resident of a university town, as opposed to a scholar at the university; a townie.
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA man who is a resident of a town, especially of one's own town.
nounSynonym of oppidan (“type of student”).
Origin
- Old Englishtūnmann
- Middle Englishtownes-man
- Englishtownsman
From Middle English townes-man, from Old English tūnmann, tūnes mann, equivalent to town + -s- + man.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀστός
- ἀστός (astós)male resident of a town
Arabic مَدِينِيّ
- مَدِينِيّ (madīniyy)male resident of a town
Bulgarian гра́жданин
- гра́жданин (gráždanin)male resident of a town
Chinese Mandarin 市民
- 市民 (shìmín)male resident of a town
Czech měšťan, měšťák
- měšťanmale resident of a town
- měšťákmale resident of a town
Danish borger, bymand
- borgermale resident of a town
- bymandmale resident of a town
Dutch poorter, burger
- poortermale resident of a town
- burgermale resident of a town
- stedelingmale resident of a town
- stadsbewonermale resident of a town
Finnish kaupunkilainen
- kaupunkilainenmale resident of a town
French citadin
- citadinmale resident of a town
German Bürger, Stadtbewohner
- Bürgermale resident of a town
- Stadtbewohnermale resident of a town
Japanese 市民
- 市民 (shimin)male resident of a town
Korean 시민
- 시민 (simin)male resident of a town
Latin oppidānus
- oppidānusmale resident of a town
Lithuanian miestietis
- miestietismale resident of a town
Norwegian Bokmål bymann
- bymannmale resident of a town
Polish mieszczanin, mieszczanka
- mieszczaninmale resident of a town
- mieszczankamale resident of a town
- miastowymale resident of a town
- miastowamale resident of a town
Portuguese cidadão
- cidadãomale resident of a town
Russian горожа́нин, городско́й жи́тель
- горожа́нин (gorožánin)male resident of a town
- городско́й жи́тель (gorodskój žítelʹ)male resident of a town
- мещани́н (meščanín)male resident of a town
- городско́й (gorodskój)male resident of a town
Slovak mešťan
- mešťanmale resident of a town
Spanish pueblero, pueblerino
- puebleromale resident of a town
- pueblerinomale resident of a town
Swedish stadsbo, borgare
- stadsbomale resident of a town
- borgaremale resident of a town
- stadsmanmale resident of a town
Ukrainian городя́нин, міща́нин
- городя́нин (horodjányn)male resident of a town
- міща́нин (miščányn)male resident of a town
- містяни́н (mistjanýn)male resident of a town
- міськи́й (misʹkýj)male resident of a town
Cite this entry
townsman. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/townsman
“townsman.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/townsman. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “townsman,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/townsman.
Source: townsman on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.