township

township
/town"ship/, n.
1. a unit of local government, usually a subdivision of a county, found in most midwestern and northeastern states of the U.S. and in most Canadian provinces.
2. (in U.S. surveys of public land) a region or district approximately 6 miles square (93.2 sq. km), containing 36 sections.
3. Eng. Hist.
a. one of the local divisions or districts of a large parish, each containing a village or small town, usually with a church of its own.
b. the manor, parish, etc., itself.
c. its inhabitants.
4. (in Australia)
a. a small town or settlement serving as the business center of a rural area.
b. the business center of a town or suburb.
5. (in South Africa) a segregated residential settlement for blacks, located outside a city or town.
[bef. 900; ME tounship community, OE tunscipe village community. See TOWN, -SHIP]

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▪ United States governmental unit
      unit of government found primarily in the northeast and north central United States; (United States) it is a subdivision of a county and is usually 36 square miles (about 93 square kilometres) in area. The term civil township is sometimes used to distinguish it from the congressional, or survey, township of six miles by six miles, which is not a unit of government.

      In some states a township meeting, patterned after the New England town meeting, levies township taxes, makes appropriations, enacts bylaws, and serves in general as the policy-determining organ of the township. A township board, either elected or ex officio, ordinarily appoints certain officers and performs other administrative duties. If there is no township meeting the board customarily acts as the township's policy-determining agency. In some states there is a principal administrative officer, usually known as supervisor or trustee. Other township offices commonly include those of clerk, treasurer, assessor, road commissioner, and supervisor of public assistance. Justices of the peace and constables, although they are state rather than local officers, are commonly elected from the townships. Township functions vary widely, but the major services most commonly performed are maintenance of local roads and administration of public assistance. Property assessment is a township function in some instances, and in a few states the township serves as an area for school administration.

      In the second half of the 20th century the U.S. township system as a unit of local government has declined steadily. In some areas it has been eliminated and its functions have been transferred to the county.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • township — [ tɔnʃip; taonʃip ] n. f. ou m. • 1985; mot angl. « commune » ♦ Anglic. Ghetto noir à la périphérie des grandes villes d Afrique du Sud. ● township nom féminin (anglais township, municipalité) Faubourg indigène des villes d Afrique du Sud.… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Township — steht für: Township (England), eine historische Verwaltungseinheit unterhalb der Parish in England, vor allem Nordengland Township (Kanada), eine Verwaltungseinheit in Kanada (im französisch sprachigen Ost Kanada auch Kanton) Township (Südafrika) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • township — Township, in government survey, is square tract six miles on each side containing thirty six square miles of land. U. S. v. Weyerhaeuser Co., C.A.Or., 392 F.2d 448, 449. In some of the states, this is the name given to the civil and political… …   Black's law dictionary

  • Township — Town ship, n. 1. The district or territory of a town. [1913 Webster] Note: In the United States, many of the States are divided into townships of five, six, seven, or perhaps ten miles square, and the inhabitants of such townships are invested… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • township — In a government survey, a square tract of land six miles on each side, constituting thirty six square miles. In some states, the name given to the political subdivision of a county. Dictionary from West s Encyclopedia of American Law. 2005.… …   Law dictionary

  • township — [toun′ship] n. [ME tunscipe < OE, people living in a tun: see TOWN & SHIP] 1. Historical in England, a parish or division of a parish, as a unit of territory and administration 2. in parts of the U.S. and Canada, a division of a county,… …   English World dictionary

  • Township — (spr. Taunschip), 1) in England a) das Weichbild einer Stadt, der Stadtbezirk; b) die Ortsgemeinde; 2) in den Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika a) in den Neuenglandstaaten ein Stadtgebiet von 5 bis 10 engl. QM. (ungefähr 1/4 bis 1/2 deutsche QM …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Township [1] — Township (spr. taunschĭp), Flächenmaß der Vereinigten Staaten zu 36 Square Miles, = 9324 Hektar …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Township [2] — Township (engl., spr. taunschĭp), in England Kirchspiel oder Teil eines solchen, mit eigner Armenverwaltung; in den Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika Name der Unterabteilung der Counties, auch Hauptsektion der vermessenen Ländereien, 36 sections… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Township — (taunschip), in der nordamerikan. Union Unterabtheilung der County, Wahl , Schul od. Kirchenbezirk …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • township — (n.) O.E. tunscipe inhabitants or population of a town. Applied in Middle English to manor, parish, or other division of a hundred. Specific sense of local division or district in a parish, each with a village or small town and its own church is… …   Etymology dictionary

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