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

Take Discover Puerto Rico (DPR), which curated guides to connect travelers to restaurants, shops, cultural experiences, and local entrepreneurs across all 78 municipalities in Puerto Rico. —Cat Sposato, Travel + Leisure, 27 Sep. 2025

Other legislation aims to streamline the development planning process and create new financing tools for municipalities. —Anna Kleiber, jsonline.com, 26 Sep. 2025

If a municipality has a wheel tax, that doesn’t mean residents are exempt from their county’s version. —Stuart Dyos, Nashville Tennessean, 26 Sep. 2025

Florida statutes say that all county jail operators must enter into 287(g) agreements with ICE, but does not explicitly require municipalities like South Miami to do so. —Syra Ortiz Blanes, Miami Herald, 25 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