different between outskirt vs suburb

English

Etymology

out- +? skirt

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?a?tsk?t/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?a?tsk??t/
• Hyphenation: out?skirt

Noun

outskirt (plural outskirts)

1. A more remote part of a town or city; the periphery, environs; a suburb.

   Many people commute into the business district from the outskirts of town.

Usage notes

• As a noun, plural form is much more common.
• In attributive use, the singular form is more common.

Translations

Verb

outskirt (third-person singular simple present outskirts, present participle outskirting, simple past and past participle outskirted)

1. (transitive) To surround as an outskirt.

English

Etymology

From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium, from sub- + urbs (“city”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?b?b/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?b??b/

Noun

suburb (plural suburbs)

1. A residential area located on the outskirts of a city or large town that usually includes businesses that cater to its residents; such as schools, grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.

   Coordinate term: exurb

   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

     These two circumstances, however, happening both unfortunately to intervene, our travellers deviated into a much less frequented track; and after riding full six miles, instead of arriving at the stately spires of Coventry, they found themselves still in a very dirty lane, where they saw no symptoms of approaching the suburbs of a large city.

   • 1818, Henry Hallam, View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages

     [London] could hardly have contained less than thirty or forty thousand souls within its walls; and the suburbs were very populous.

2. (by extension) The outer part; the environment.
   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     the suburbs […] of sorrow
3. (Australia, New Zealand) Any subdivision of a conurbation, not necessarily on the periphery.

Derived terms

Translations