townletn.
/ˈtaʊnlᵻt/, U.S. /ˈtaʊnlət/ A small town.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > district in relation to human occupation > town as opposed to country > town > [noun] > small town
townleta1552
townikina1813
townette1839
boroughlet1864
townling1866
towneen1893
a1552 J. Leland Itinerary (1711) V. 89 Ægglesfild and Bradefeld ii. Townelettes or Villages long to one Paroche Chirche.
1610 P. Holland tr. W. Camden Brit. ii. 32 The coasts are well bespred with prety townlets.
1658 E. Phillips New World Eng. Words at Paston A Townlet in Northfolk, giving sirname and residence to an honourable family of this County.
1807 R. Southey Lett. from Eng. II. 244 One of those townlets in which every thing reminds us of the distance from a metropolis.
1890 Times 14 Oct. 4/1 Many townlets are changed by virtue of a local order into villages, and Jews resident in them are expelled.
1920 W. H. Mallock Mem. Life & Lit. viii. 159 Within a few miles' radius of Trevarthenick were two little agricultural townlets, hardly more than villages.
1994 New Yorker 10 Oct. 110/2 Berie Carr..is a middle-aged woman recalling her adolescence in Horsehearts, a townlet in upstate New York.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.a1552