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

July 11 was one of the rare trips that didn’t originate in either Jasper or Indianapolis, but rather in the township of Culver. —Whitney Downard, IndyStar, 20 Aug. 2025

Loitering or destruction or defacing of public property owned by the governments of the township, county, or state. —Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Aug. 2025

Voters will also decide the fate of a township trustee who used a racial slur. —Victoria Moorwood, The Enquirer, 14 Aug. 2025

Tuesday's robbery occurred just before 10:30 a.m. at an H-Mart in Cheltenham, north of Philadelphia, the township's police department said in a news release. —Tim Stelloh, NBC news, 13 Aug. 2025

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)