Standard Lemma guide

townsman

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: T AW1 N Z M AH0 N Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A man who is a resident of a town, especially of one's own town.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: city dweller

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A resident of a university town, as opposed to a scholar at the university; a townie.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Synonym of oppidan (“type of student”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: oppidan

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a resident of a town or city

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: towner

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: resident, occupant, occupier

Narrower terms: townee, townie, towny

5

noun

Meaning 5

a person from the same town as yourself

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • a fellow townsman

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: peer, equal, match, compeer

History

Etymology

From Middle English townes-man, from Old English tūnmann, tūnes mann, equivalent to town + -s- + man.

Across languages

Translations

55 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: bashkëqytetar — male resident of a town
  • Arabic: مَدِينِيّ (madīniyy) — male resident of a town
  • Belarusian: гараджа́нін (haradžánin) — male resident of a town
  • Belarusian: мяшча́нін (mjaščánin) — male resident of a town
  • Belarusian: гарадскі́ (haradskí) — male resident of a town
  • Belarusian: ме́скі (mjéski) — male resident of a town
  • Breton: kêriad — male resident of a town
  • Bulgarian: гра́жданин (gráždanin) — male resident of a town
  • Chinese Mandarin: 市民 (shìmín) — male resident of a town
  • Czech: měšťan — male resident of a town
  • Czech: měšťák — male resident of a town
  • Danish: borger — male resident of a town
  • Danish: bymand — male resident of a town
  • Dutch: poorter — male resident of a town
  • Dutch: burger — male resident of a town
  • Dutch: stedeling — male resident of a town
  • Dutch: stadsbewoner — male resident of a town
  • Finnish: kaupunkilainen — male resident of a town
  • French: citadin — male resident of a town
  • German: Bürger — male resident of a town
  • German: Stadtbewohner — male resident of a town
  • Ancient Greek: ἀστός (astós) — male resident of a town
  • Japanese: 市民 (shimin) — male resident of a town
  • Korean: 시민 (simin) — male resident of a town
  • Latin: oppidānus — male resident of a town
  • Lithuanian: miestietis — male resident of a town
  • Macedonian: гра́ѓанин (gráǵanin) — male resident of a town
  • Macedonian: гра́ѓанец (gráǵanec) — male resident of a town
  • Norwegian Bokmål: bymann — male resident of a town
  • Church Slavic: гражданинъ (graždaninŭ) — male resident of a town
  • Old East Slavic: горожанинъ (gorožaninŭ) — male resident of a town
  • Polish: mieszczanin — male resident of a town
  • Polish: miastowy — male resident of a town
  • Portuguese: cidadão — male resident of a town
  • Russian: горожа́нин (gorožánin) — male resident of a town
  • Russian: городско́й жи́тель (gorodskój žítelʹ) — male resident of a town
  • Russian: меща́нин (meščánin) — male resident of a town
  • Russian: городско́й (gorodskój) — male resident of a town
  • Serbo-Croatian: мѐштанин — male resident of a town
  • Serbo-Croatian: мјѐштанин — male resident of a town
  • Serbo-Croatian: mèštanin — male resident of a town
  • Serbo-Croatian: mjèštanin — male resident of a town
  • Slovak: mešťan — male resident of a town
  • Slovene: meščan — male resident of a town
  • Slovene: krajan — male resident of a town
  • Spanish: pueblero — male resident of a town
  • Spanish: pueblerino — male resident of a town
  • Sranan Tongo: fotoman — male resident of a town
  • Swedish: stadsbo — male resident of a town
  • Swedish: borgare — male resident of a town
  • Swedish: stadsman — male resident of a town
  • Ukrainian: городя́нин (horodjányn) — male resident of a town
  • Ukrainian: міща́нин (miščányn) — male resident of a town
  • Ukrainian: містяни́н (mistjanýn) — male resident of a town
  • Ukrainian: міськи́й (misʹkýj) — male resident of a town
Real reading context

townsman in complete knowledge articles