township

noun

town·​ship ˈtau̇n-ˌship 

1

a

: town sense 5

b

: a unit of local government in some northeastern and north central states usually having a chief administrative officer or board

c

: an unorganized subdivision of the county in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont

d

: an electoral and administrative district of the county in the southern U.S.

2

: a division of territory in surveys of U.S. public land containing 36 sections or 36 square miles

3

: an area in the Republic of South Africa that was segregated under apartheid for occupation by persons of non-European descent

4

: an ancient unit of administration in England identical in area with or a division of a parish

Examples of township in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The township is about 71% white, 11% Black, and 8% Asian, with the remaining residents Hispanic or multi-racial. —Bill Laytner, Detroit Free Press, 9 Dec. 2024

Then the constable arrested two township employees. —Noe Padilla, The Indianapolis Star, 15 Nov. 2024

There’s one township where the vote count is certain: Trump and Harris each received 3 votes in tiny Dixville Notch, N.H., which votes at midnight. —Jonathan Easley, The Hill, 5 Nov. 2024

Junior Edwards, 37, of Lansdowne, is accused of fatally shooting 33-year-old Catherine Nunez and 54-year-old Marisol Nunez at their residence in the Hawthorne Park section of Willingboro, a township in Burlington County, N.J., just outside Philadelphia. —Muri Assunção, New York Daily News, 2 Nov. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 4

Kids Definition

township

noun

town·​ship ˈtau̇n-ˌship 

1

: a unit of local government in some northeastern and north central states

2

: a division of territory in surveys of U.S. public land containing 36 square miles (about 93 square kilometers)