suburb

Etymology

From Old French suburbe, subburbe, from Latin suburbium, from sub- + urbs (“city”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌbɜː(ɹ)b/

Noun

suburb (plural suburbs)

1. A residential area located on the outskirts of a city or large town that usually includes businesses that cater to its residents; such as schools, grocery stores, shopping centers, restaurants, convenience stores, etc.
   • 1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling

     These two circumstances, however, happening both unfortunately to intervene, our travellers deviated into a much less frequented track; and after riding full six miles, instead of arriving at the stately spires of Coventry, they found themselves still in a very dirty lane, where they saw no symptoms of approaching the suburbs of a large city.

   • Hallam

     [London] could hardly have contained less than thirty or forty thousand souls within its walls; and the suburbs were very populous.

2. (by extension) The outer part; the environment.
   • Jeremy Taylor

     the suburbs […] of sorrow

   • Milton

     the suburb of their straw-built citadel

3. (Australia, New Zealand) Any subdivision of a conurbation, not necessarily on the periphery.