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Today it means

municipal

relating to the government of a town or city

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Where does the word "municipal" come from? It comes from Latin municipium, and was adopted directly into English (1540s).

Read the full story

Where does the word "municipal" come from? It comes from Latin municipium, and was adopted directly into English (1540s).

Municipal’s story begins in Latin: municipium meant “a self-governing town.” A self-governing town, from munia (duties) and capere (to take on). It reached English by 1540s as municipal. Settled as the English word for anything relating to local town government. Today, municipal means relating to the government of a town or city.

  1. Stage 1 · Latin · ancient municipium "a self-governing town", a self-governing town, from munia (duties) and capere (to take on).
  2. Stage 2 · English · 1540s municipal "relating to a town or city's local government", settled as the English word for anything relating to local town government.

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