Town

town, human settlement that is smaller than a city but bigger than a village. The word town comes from the Old English tūn, which had a variety of meanings, among them “enclosure” and “group of houses.” A town can be categorized according to its function—such as commercial, administrative, and cultural—although many towns fulfill multiple functions. The exact distinction between town and city is subject to debate, as the terms are often used interchangeably. The differences expressed by the two terms in English do not necessarily exist in all languages and contexts.