Toun
/tuːn/noun
A Scots and northern English form of “town,” meaning a settlement or urban community.
Did you know?In Old English, the ancestor of “toun” could mean an enclosure, farm, village, or estate—not necessarily a large urban place.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Proto-Germanic
*tūnaz
“An enclosure or fenced settlement; the reconstructed ancestor of the later Germanic forms.”
Old English
Old English
tūn
“An enclosed place, farm, estate, village, or settlement.”
Middle English
Middle English
toun
“A town or settlement; a spelling shaped by regional pronunciation and scribal usage.”
14th–16th Century
Scots
toun
“A settlement or town, especially in Scots writing and place-name traditions.”
Modern English
Scots
toun
“A Scots form of “town,” still used in Scots literature and speech.”