Urban

//ˈɜːb(ə)n// adj, name

adj, name ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Of, pertaining to, characteristic of, or happening or located in, a city or town; of, pertaining to, or characteristic of life in such a place, especially when contrasted with the countryside.

    "urban life"

  2. 2
    Living in a city or town.

    "Inſomuch, as thoſe citizens vvere reputed for cheeſe and principall, vvho vvere poſſeſſed of land and living in the countrey: and theſe made the State, called the Ruſtick Tribes, in Rome: vvheras contrarivviſe the other eſtate, reputed the meaner in degree, vvas named the Vrbane Tribes; conſiſting of Artiſanes & ſuch like as vvere not landed perſons: into vvhich, if a man vvere transferred from any of the reſt, it vvas thought a great ſhame and diſgrace, as if hee vvere reproched for idleneſſe and negligence in husbandrie."

  3. 3
    Having authority or jurisdiction over a city or town.

    "All theſe Magiſtrats are but temporary, and have a time limited them; the Urbane or Citty Magiſtrats ſome of them continue in office 6. months, others 8. months, others are annuall; […]"

  4. 4
    Relating to contemporary African American culture, especially in music. US, archaic, proscribed
  5. 5
    Of an inhabitant or resident: black; African-American. UK, US, euphemistic, offensive
Adjective
  1. 1
    located in or characteristic of a city or city life wordnet
  2. 2
    relating to or concerned with a city or densely populated area wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A male given name from Latin. countable, uncommon, uncountable
  2. 2
    A surname originating as a patronymic. countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    An early Christian, also Urbane and Urbanus in various versions of the Bible. countable, uncountable

    "Grete wel Vrban, oure helpere in Crist Jhesus, and Stacchen, my derlyng."

Synonyms

All synonyms
citycity borncity likecitysidecivicdowntown

Example

More examples

"Bicycles are tools for urban sustainability."

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etymon Latin urbānus (“of or belonging to a city, urban; of manners or style: like those of city dwellers: cultivated, polished, refined, sophisticated”) + English -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Urbānus is derived from urbs (“city; walled town; Rome”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to encircle, enclose; a belt; an enclosure, fence”) or *werbʰ- (“to enclose”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). For the euphemistic or proscribed term, it was coined by New York radio DJ Frankie Crocker in the early to mid-1970s as a synonym for Black music.

Etymology 2

Latin Urbānus, name of eight early popes, from urbānus (“of the town or city, urbane”). Doublet of Orban.

Related phrases

Ellesmere UrbanUrban syndromeUrban-Rogers-Meyer syndromeWhitchurch Urbanperi-urbanrban boulevardsingle-point urban interchangeurban Naxalurban blighturban boardingurban canyonurban contemporary

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.