municipal, a. and n.
(mjuːˈnɪsɪpəl)
Also α. 6 municipale, 6–7 municipall, municiple; β. 7 municipial(l.
[a. L. mūnicipālis, f. mūnicip-, mūniceps member of a municipium, f. mūni-a pl., civic offices (cogn. w. mūner-, mūnus: see muneral) + root of capĕre to take. Cf. F., Sp., Pg. municipal, It. munizipale.
The form municipial, common in 17th c., is due either to regarding the word as a derivative of mūnicipium, or to uncertainty as to the proper form of a derivative from mūniceps.]
A. adj.
1. a. Pertaining to the internal affairs of a state as distinguished from its foreign relations. Originally and still chiefly in the phrase municipal law, the law of a particular state, as distinguished from international law or the law of nations (see also quot. 1959). So municipal rights, municipal jurisdiction, etc.
| c 1540 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden) I. 11 But the Englishe people use the propre and municipall lawes. 1565 Reg. Privy Council Scot. I. 332 Sic kynd of gudis as be the lawis municipal of this realme are expres forbidden. 1691 Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 23 He retired to Greys Inn in Holbourn to obtain knowledge in the municipal Law. 1740 W. Douglass Disc. Curr. Brit. Plant. Amer. 4 Every Country or Society have their own peculiar Regulations, which may be called their Municipal, or By-Laws in Trade. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. Introd. ii. 44 Municipal or civil law: that is, the rule by which particular districts, communities, or nations are governed. 1806 Vesey Reports VI. 699 Notwithstanding the Union, for all the municipal jurisdiction of the Great Seal,..the countries remain as distinct, as formerly. 1861 Sat. Rev. 7 Dec. 580 Finding accidentally in the course of her search deserters from her navy on board, she claimed the municipal right of bringing them back to the service from which they had escaped. 1959 Jowitt Dict. Eng. Law II. 1201/1 Municipal law, that which pertains solely to the citizens and inhabitants of a State, and is thus distinguished from political law and the law of nations. 1965 Mod. Law Review XXVIII. 626 There is a useful review of municipal decisions which points to some areas of prospective conflict between community law and municipal law. 1971 Ibid. XXXIV. 602 A miscellany of other changes in United Kingdom law will have to be introduced in order to bring municipal law into closer harmony with Community law. |
b. transf. Belonging to one place only; having narrow limits. [Cf. late L. dii municipes, gods whose worship is confined to particular localities.]
| 1631 Massinger Emperor East i. ii, Whose beames of iustice like the Sun extend Their light, and heate to strangers, and are not Municipall, or confinde. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Lit. Wks. (Bohn) II. 109 The essays, the fiction, and the poetry of the day have the like municipal limits. |
2. a. Pertaining to the local self-government or corporate government of a city or town.
In common use only from the 19th c.
| 1600 W. Watson Decacordon (1602) 43 A very hotch potch of omnium githerum,..politicall, liberall, mechanicall, municipiall, irregular, and all without order. 1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Municipall, priuately belonging to a freeman, or burgesse of a cittie. 1656 Blount Glossogr., Municipial, Municipal, proper or peculiar to one onely City, or to the right of Freedom in a City. 1727–41 Chambers Cycl., Municipal officers, are those elected to defend the interests of cities, their rights and privileges, and to maintain order and good policy; as mayors, sheriffs, consuls, bailiffs, &c. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XIII. 569/2 After incredible efforts, the communes succeeded in obtaining a share in the municipal government. 1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) II. 197 Little or no change took place in the municipal constitution of corporations. 1864 Chamb. Encycl. VI. 611/2 By granting or renewing to them municipal charters. 1898 Westm. Gaz. 2 July 2/3 There is just now an interesting municipal tramway development in the Midlands. |
b. municipal borough: see quots.
| 1868 Act 31 & 32 Vict. c. 41 §2 In this Act..The Term ‘Municipal Borough’ means a Place subject to the Provisions of the Act of [5 & 6 Will. IV, c. 76]. 1889 Act 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63 §15 The expression ‘municipal borough’ shall mean, as respects England and Wales, any place for the time being subject to the Municipal Corporations Act, 1882. |
3. Rom. Hist. Of or pertaining to a municipium; hence contemptuously, provincial.
| 1618 Bolton Florus (1636) 228 Every Army of our most Valiant, and most Loyall Fellowes had under each ensigne those municipall bad members, and monsters of men. 1658 W. Burton Itin. Anton. 149 They were not any part of that Imperial body till favourably received by municipial priviledge into the freedom. 1850 Merivale Rom. Emp. ii. (1865) I. 61 The nobles looked with secret disdain upon his municipal extraction, his plebeian descent and recent nobility. |
B. n.
1. Rom. Hist. An inhabitant of a municipium (tr. L. municeps).
| 1727–41 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Municipal, In the Roman law, municipal denotes a person vested with the rights and privileges of a Roman citizen. 1853 Merivale Rom. Rep. vii. (1807) 189 He was personally little known, being a new man, a municipal of Arpinum, without family distinctions. 1887 Cory Lett. & Jrnls. (1897) 524 Livy bears witness to the character of the Romans, including the municipals. |
‖ 2. [Fr.: short for garde municipale.] A member of the Municipal Guard (F. garde municipale), a body of soldiers under the control of the municipality of Paris.
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. vi. vi, Is it not a happiness for many a Municipal that he can wash his hands of such a business. 1841 Thackeray Second Funeral Napoleon iii. 64 These were followed by a regiment, a detachment of the municipals, on foot. |
† 3. pl. = Municipal laws. Obs.
| 1586 J. Ferne Blaz. Gentrie To Gent. Inner Temple, It might turne to some disparagement of my knowledge in the common lawes and municiples of our country. |
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Add: [A.] [2.] c. municipal bond, a security issued by a local authority or its agent, orig. to finance local projects, interest on which is generally exempt from federal income tax and other taxes in the state of issue. Chiefly U.S.
| 1858 P. L. Simmonds Dict. Trade Products s.v. Debenture, the term has now got to be applied to..municipal and other bonds or securities for money loaned. 1877 W. A. Johnson Hist. Anderson County, Kansas xvi. 160 People..have adopted the system of aiding railway companies in the construction of their roads by voting and issuing municipal bonds of the county. 1915 Municipal Obligations (Baker, Watts, & Co.) i. 9 Municipal Bonds have come to be firmly demanded by the most advanced authorities and conservative investors. 1949 Of People, by People (J. Nuveen & Co.) ii. 5 While there are numerous technical differences between bonds issued by states and those issued by their underlying governmental units..they are all generally known as ‘Municipal Bonds’. 1983 Fortune 11 July 158/2 A bankruptcy..that would trigger a chain reaction devastating the entire municipal bond market. |
[B.] 4. = municipal bond above. Usu. in pl. U.S. colloq.
| 1916 World's Work Mar. 485/2 The cashier of his bank had argued convincingly that municipals were the only securities meeting such requirements. 1937 L. S. Lebenthall ABC of Municipal Bonds i. iv. 33 These insurance companies..usually place a large percentage of their funds in municipals. 1949 Of People, by People (J. Nuveen & Co.) ii. 5 It is generally recognized that ‘municipals’ comprise one of the more important investment media available today. 1987 D. M. Howell How to buy Tax Free Bonds i. 9 The financial publications you read are full of articles about municipals. |