townhoodn.
/ˈtaʊnhʊd/, U.S. /ˈtaʊnˌ(h)ʊd/ The state or fact of being a town; the status of a town.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town > [noun] > condition of
township1677
townhood1845
1845 New Monthly Mag. Aug. 538 Perhaps I had better call it a village, for I am not sure that it had grown up to townhood in those days.
1865 E. Burritt Walk to Land's End 203 The first centuries of its townhood..mellow off under the horizon of the past.
1921 W. Irwin Columbine Time ii. 30 A mining camp struggling toward the dignity of a railroad and townhood.
2003 Old-house Jrnl. Mar. 63/1 They moved from Maine in the early 1840s and..established Arcola Mills—a sawmill with aspirations of townhood.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1845