municipality

noun

mu·​nic·​i·​pal·​i·​ty myu̇-ˌni-sə-ˈpa-lə-tē 

plural municipalities

1

: a primarily urban political unit having corporate (see corporate sense 1a) status and usually powers of self-government

Elections were held in the municipality.

2

: the governing body of a municipality

The municipality approved the budget for the year.

Synonyms

• city
• town
• metropolis

Examples of municipality in a Sentence

laws that have been enacted by many states and municipalities

a municipality with an excellent police department

Recent Examples on the Web

State lawmakers would need to first authorize municipalities to create local option taxes, then the City Council would need to exact an ordinance and a majority of Detroit voters would need to approve it. —Malachi Barrett, Freep.com, 5 Sep. 2025

The first runner-up was Glennys Medina, representing the municipality of Rivas, who was also chosen as Miss Photogenic. —Sarah Moreno, Miami Herald, 5 Sep. 2025

Jimmy Novy grew up on a farm with corn, cattle and chickens in Wisconsin’s smallest municipality. —Tom Kertscher, jsonline.com, 5 Sep. 2025

The Milan municipality has declared that Monday will be a day of city mourning. —Luisa Zargani, Footwear News, 4 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1790, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for municipality

• bisexuality
• collegiality
• conditionality
• congeniality
• conventionality
• conviviality
• dimensionality
• directionality
• emotionality
• essentiality
• eventuality
• grammaticality

Kids Definition

municipality

noun

mu·​nic·​i·​pal·​i·​ty myu̇-ˌnis-ə-ˈpal-ət-ē 

plural municipalities

: a self-governing city or town

Legal Definition

municipality

noun

mu·​nic·​i·​pal·​i·​ty myu̇-ˌni-sə-ˈpa-lə-tē 

plural municipalities

: a primarily urban municipal corporation

also : the governing body of a municipality