townsmann.
/ˈtaʊnzmən/, U.S. /ˈtaʊnzmən/ΘΚΠ
society > authority > subjection > service > feudal service > serfdom > [noun] > serf
town manOE
townsmanOE
churl?c1225
carla1300
villeina1325
peasant1550
serf1611
helot1823
robotnik1945
OE Laws of Edgar (Nero E.i) iv. xiii. 212 Ic wille, þæt tunesmen & heora hyrdas habban þas ylcan smeagunge on minum cucum orfe & on minra þegena, ealswa hy habbað on heora agenum.
OE Laws: Norðhymbra Preosta Lagu (Corpus Cambr.) lix. 384 Gif hwilc tunesman ænigne pænig forhele oððe forhæbbe, gilde se landrica þone pænig & nime ænne oxan æt ðam men.
2.
a. A person (esp. a man) who lives or was born in a (particular) town or city; a town dweller. Cf. countryman n. 1.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > town- or city-dweller > [noun]
borough-manc1000
city mana1400
townsman1433
town manc1475
town dweller1484
oppidan?1548
burgher?1555
townsfolk1562
townsfolk1592
townswoman1612
town liver1620
town folk1679
citess1685
citizeness1754
citizette1798
townie1825
urban1835
townskip1837
townsperson1840
urbanite1892
burgheress1901
1433 in C. F. D. Sperling Hist. Sudbury (1896) 125 A Supplicacon of the Maior and Tonsmen of Sudbury to the B. of Norwich.
1519 Coventry Leet Bk. 666 Iff eny fforener or Townesman fforstall eny Corne within the libertie of this Cetie of Couentre or it com into the markett.
1577 H. I. tr. H. Bullinger 50 Godlie Serm. I. ii. v. sig. J.viijv/1 Of the countrimen as well as of the townesmen.
1615 G. Sandys Relation of Journey 6 Here a garrison is kept; supplyed by the townesmen.
1686 tr. J. Chardin Coronation Solyman 90 in Trav. Persia The Townsmen made answer, 'twas nothing to them if there were such a Famine in the City.
1725 D. Defoe Compl. Eng. Tradesman I. xxiii. 402 She being a good honest townsman's daughter.
a1749 G. C. Deering Nottinghamia (1751) i. 3 Some neighbouring Butts where the Townsmen used to exercise themselves, in shooting at a Mark with Bows and Arrows.
1863 H. Cox Inst. Eng. Govt. iii. ix. 727 The whole body of resident trading townsmen.
1882 J. Croston Nooks & Corners Lancs. & Cheshire v. 199 The common, on which the townsmen had the right to pasture their pigs.
1926 W. Lewis Art of being Ruled iv. vi. 129 The comfortable atmosphere of a rustic inn, for whose appointments he has a superior townsman's contempt.
1960 J. Leiby Carroll Wright & Labor Reform ii. 22 In the families of the townsmen, Reading cobblers found a cheap, expansible labor supply.
2004 T. Khair Bus Stopped 171 Even the Brylcreemed townsman had not expected this.
b. A person (esp. a man) from one's own or the same town; = fellow townsman at fellow n. Compounds 1c. Frequently with possessive adjective.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > town- or city-dweller > [noun] > fellow townsman
concitizen1428
co-citizen1488
comburgess1517
fellow citizen1550
townsman1562
conscive1578
town's bairn?1591
comburgher1605
townsfolk1614
townschild1621
city mana1661
townsboy1699
town folk1805
townie1824
townsfellow1830
homeboy1861
homie1929
homes1971
1562 A. Golding tr. Briefe Treat. Burnynge Bucer & Phagius sig. H2 The Maior of ye town..commaunded certaine of his townesmen to wait vpon him in harnesse.
1601 A. Dent Plaine Mans Path-way to Heauen 19 For methinkes you goe too farre, you goe beyond your learning in this, that you condemne good neighbours, and good Townesmen.
1654 J. Cleveland Idol of Clownes (new ed.) 138 Hee heares news from his Brother..not very pleasing, which he communicates to his Townsmen.
1720 A. Pope tr. Homer Iliad VI. xviii. 578 There, in the Forum swarm a num'rous Train; The Subject of Debate, a Townsman slain.
c1750 J. Gutteridge in Gentleman's Mag. (1819) May 394/2 Harwood, my townsman, he invented first Porter to rival wine, and quench the thirst.
1836 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece II. xv. 258 A citizen of Abdera advised his townsmen to offer a solemn thanksgiving to the gods.
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 5 I should not obtrude my affairs so much on the notice of my readers if very particular inquiries had not been made by my townsmen concerning my mode of life.
1936 Poetry Nov. 88 She alone demanded successfully the support of her townsmen and the response of poets to vindicate her daring.
1992 Stars Mag. 8 Nov. 17/1 Cline's wild ways and salty language shocked the local gentry in the 1950s. Adm. Richard Byrd, Antarctic explorer—now there was a townsman to be proud of.
1995 P. Conroy Beach Music (1996) xxi. 334 He was delighted by the attention he drew from his townsmen as he approached the long-haired boy.
c. An inhabitant of a university town as distinguished from a member of the university itself. Opposed to gownsman n. 3c. Cf. town n. 9, oppidan n. 3a. Now chiefly historical.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabitant > inhabitant according to environment > town- or city-dweller > [noun] > as opposed to university
townsman1570
oppidana1696
snobc1796
snobbitec1796
townie1843
mucker1874
townee1888
1570 J. Foxe Actes & Monumentes (rev. ed.) I. iv. 489/2 Upon this occasion geuen, eftsoones partes began to be take betwene the towns men and the scholers.
1587 W. Harrison Hist. Descr. Iland Brit. (new ed.) ii. iii. 148/2 in Holinshed's Chron. (new ed.) I The townesmen of both [sc. Oxford and Cambridge] are glad when they may match and annoie the students.
1655 T. Fuller Church-hist. Brit. iii. 86 A civil penalty (equivalent to the Universities discommoning a Townsman in Cambridg).
1694 J. Strype Memorials T. Cranmer i. xxvi. 114 And when he was out of his Proctorship, the University allowed him to defend himself from the Towns-men at the University Charge, if he should be set upon by them.
1729 G. Jacob New Law-dict. Glomerells, Commissaries appointed to determine differences between Scholars of a School or University, and the Townsmen of the Place.
1768 J. Wilkes Corr. (1805) III. 254 Only another proof that the townsmen of Oxford have always hated the university.
1823 C. Lamb in London Mag. May 535/2 The distance between the gownsmen and the townsmen, as they are called..is carried to an excess.
1888 A. Jessopp Coming of Friars vi. 273 The townsmen under great provocation had seized three of the gownsmen.
1920 O. F. Morton Hist. Rockbridge County i. xxv. 193 The students often took part in the numerous street fights, and the townsmen came to their side when the faculty tried to enforce discipline.
1959 Jet 21 May 50 And though Negroes admitted the wheels of justice had never spun faster, students and townsmen still adopted a wait-and-see attitude.
1999 Oxoniensia 63 107 In 1562 Maurice Aprice of White Hall was one of several students involved in an affray with townsmen over a prisoner.
3. Originally North American (U.S. in later use). = selectman n. Now historical.In quot. 2005: any of the whole body of freemen of a community, from among whom the selectmen were appointed.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > rule or government > ruler or governor > deliberative, legislative, or administrative assembly > local government body > [noun] > member of local government council > town-councillor > in New England
townsman1634
selectman1646
town officer1685
1634 Rec. Cambridge, Mass. (1901) 11 Whatsoever these Townsmen thuse Chosse[n] shall doe..sha[ll] stand in as full force as if the whole To[wn] did the same.
1705 Boston News-let. 12 Mar. 2/2 Monday the 12th Instant, being the Annual Election-day of Town Officers, There was Chosen to Serve as Select or Townsmen, Mesieurs, Timothy Clark, John Marrion, [etc.].
1794 E. Stiles Hist. Three Judges King Charles I ii. 67 The town government of New-Haven was in the hands of six townsmen, or select men, for the ordinary secular affairs.
a1817 T. Dwight Trav. New-Eng. & N.-Y. (1821) I. 243 At this meeting the inhabitants choose, not exceeding seven men, inhabitants, able, discreet and of good conversation, to be Select-men, or Townsmen, to take care of the order, and prudential affairs, of the town.
1914 G. L. Clark Hist. Connecticut (ed. 2) vi. 71 The title selectmen might be used in recording the election, but the old name of townsmen was often used in the further accounts.
2005 D. A. Weir Early New Eng. iii. 116 These positions were called ‘Selectmen’ and took the place of the plurality of freemen who were called ‘Townsmen’.
4. British. A man who solicits custom or business in towns, spec. one employed by a railway company. Also: a man who delivers goods from a town to rural areas. Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
society > trade and finance > selling > seller > [noun] > one who canvasses or solicits sales
barker1699
salesman's dog1699
toutera1754
townsman1843
tout1853
canvasser1865
schlepper1894
1843 Manch. Times 28 Jan. 8/2 The prisoner had been in their employ as townsman and collector.
1894 Railway News 20 Jan. 94/2 We hear of the retirement of Mr. T. Jeffery, who for a period of thirty-three years has filled the position of townsman to the Midland Railway Company at Derby.
1907 Railway Official Gaz. Oct. 147/3 He there eventually became chief townsman in February, 1894, and in November, 1900, was appointed as chief townsman and carting superintendent at Sheffield.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §719 Townsman, drives horse and van delivering goods from town shopkeepers to customers in countryside.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §774 Townsman, a canvasser who confines his selling to towns.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.OE