different between city vs avoyer

English

Alternative forms

• cyte (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English city, citie, citee, cite, from Old French cité, from Latin c?vit?s (“citizenry; community; a city with its hinterland”), from c?vis (“native; townsman; citizen”), from Proto-Indo-European *?ey- (“to lie down, settle; home, family; love; beloved”).

Cognate with Old English h?wan pl (“members of one's household, servants”). See hewe. Doublet of civitas.

Displaced native Middle English burgh, borough (“fortified town; incorporated city”) and sted, stede (“place, stead; city”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?s?ti/
• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /s?t?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?s??i/
• Rhymes: -?ti
• Hyphenation: ci?ty

Noun

city (plural cities)

1. A large settlement, bigger than a town; sometimes with a specific legal definition, depending on the place.

   • 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.
2. (Britain) A settlement granted special status by royal charter or letters patent; traditionally, a settlement with a cathedral regardless of size.
   • 1976, Cornelius P. Darcy, The Encouragement of the Fine Arts in Lancashire, 1760-1860, Manchester University Press (?ISBN), page 20

     Manchester, incorporated in 1838, was made the centre of a bishopric in 1847 and became a city in 1853. Liverpool was transformed into a city by Royal Charter when the new diocese of Liverpool was created in 1880.

   • 2014, Graham Rutt, Cycling Britain's Cathedrals Volume 1, Lulu.com (?ISBN), page 307

     St Davids itself is the smallest city in Great Britain, with a population of less than 2,000.

3. (Australia) The central business district; downtown.

4. (slang) A large amount of something (used after the noun).

   It's video game city in here!

Hypernyms

• settlement

Derived terms

Pages starting with “city”.

Related terms

• civic
• civil

Descendants

• ? French: City
• ? German: City
• ? Italian: city
• ? Swedish: city

Translations

See also

• metropolis
• megalopolis
• megacity
• multicity

Further reading

• "city" in Raymond Williams, Keywords (revised), 1983, Fontana Press, page 55.

Anagrams

• ICTY

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [?t?s?t?]

Noun

city

1. nominative/accusative/vocative/instrumental plural of cit

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from English city. Doublet of città.

Noun

city f (invariable)

1. city (financial district of a city)

Derived terms

• city bike
• city car
• city manager

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English city.

Pronunciation

Noun

city n

1. inner city, the commercial centre of a medium-sized or larger city

   Lite närmare city, i närheten av konstmuseet, ligger Norrköpings mest attraktiva lägenheter.

   A little closer to the town centre, next to the art museum, you'll find Norrköping's most attractive apartments.

   Det finns mycket att förbättra i vårt city.

   There are many things that need improvement in our inner city.

Usage notes

• centrum is used for the commercial centre of suburbs and small or medium-sized towns.

Synonyms

• centrum
• innerstad

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French avoyer; see also avoué, avouer.

Noun

avoyer (plural avoyers)

1. (obsolete or historical) A chief magistrate of a free imperial city or canton of Switzerland.
   • 1800, Joseph Planta, The History of the Helvetic Confederacy, Volume 2, page 257,

     The avoyer in office presided both in the council and senate, in each of which he had no regular, but only a casting vote: the great seal of the republic was in his custody; and a provincial jurisdiction was annexed to his station.

   • 1809, Unnamed translator, Lazzaro Spallanzani, Travels in the Two Sicilies and Some Parts of the Apennines, in John Pinkerton, A General Collection of the Best and Most Interesting Voyages and Travels in All Parts of the World, Volume 5, page 717,

     The reigning avoyer, with a ?ceptre in his hand, pronounces an harangue; then delivering up the ?ceptre and ?eals, re?igns his dignity, and receives the thanks of the a??embly, by the mouth of the attorney-general, for his zeal and attention during the year of his government.