City
City (sit"y) , noun
[Old English cite, French cité, from Latin civitas citizenship, state, city, from civis citizen; akin to Gothic heiwa (in heiwafrauja man of the house), Anglo-Saxon hīwan, pl., members of a family, servants, hīred family, German heirath marriage, prop., providing a house, English hind a peasant.]
1.
A large town.
2.
A corporate town; in the United States, a town or collective body of inhabitants, incorporated and governed by a mayor and aldermen or a city council consisting of a board of aldermen and a common council; in Great Britain, a town corporate, which is or has been the seat of a bishop, or the capital of his see.
A city is a town incorporated; which is, or has been, the see of a bishop; and though the bishopric has been dissolved, as at Westminster, it yet remaineth a city.
When Gorges constituted York a city, he of course meant it to be the seat of a bishop, for the word city has no other meaning in English law.
3.
The collective body of citizens, or inhabitants of a city.
What is the city but the people?
City , adjective
Of or pertaining to a city. — Shakespeare
Collocations (3)
City council , See under Council.
City court , The municipal court of a city. [United States]
City ward , a watchman, or the collective watchmen, of a city. [Obsolete] — Fairfax