Did you know?
The Suburbs vs. the Urbs
Given that most of the common words in our language beginning sub- tend to have meanings concerned with “beneath” (as in subterranean and submarine) or “less than” (as with subpar), you would be forgiven for assuming that the suburbs were so named because of their location below, or their status as less than, their urban counterparts. Not so, however: sub- may have other meanings at the beginning of a word; in this case, it indicates not depth or inferiority, but proximity. In other words, the suburbs are a region close to the urbs.
Is urbs an English word? Yes; it is rarely used, but it refers typically to a city, particularly when distinguished from a suburb.
Examples of suburb in a Sentence
Chase Jordan, Charlotte Observer, 10 Mar. 2025
Meanwhile, some members of the Legislative Black Caucus of Maryland have expressed concerns that eliminating itemized deductions would have a disproportionate impact on majority-Black districts in the Washington suburbs.
—Paul Kiefer, Baltimore Sun, 10 Mar. 2025
Worthy, 21, was detained at his home in the Austin suburb of Georgetown.
—Joseph Wilkinson, New York Daily News, 9 Mar. 2025
News of the crime rocked the Baltimore suburb where Mangione grew up, back when Mantova knew him as just another teenager who came in after school to order a chicken-parm slice.
—Lorena O'Neil, Rolling Stone, 9 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suburb
Cite this Entry
“Suburb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suburb. Accessed 13 Mar. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
suburb
noun
Middle English suburb "part around the outer edge of a city," from early French (same meaning), from Latin suburbium (same meaning), from sub "under, close to" and urbs "city"
Share