Kilo Lingo

/ˌdaʊnˈtaʊn/

Line drawing of downtown
Coloured illustration of downtown
#2507 of 5,000 Core 5000

Translation

To or in the busy central part of a city; British speakers usually say the city centre.

Word origin

An American word made from down and town; it first described the lower end of New York, which was the busy centre.

Origin
American English
Root
down + town

Examples

shopping.

No "to the" is needed: you go downtown, like you go home.

.

Before a noun, "downtown" describes where the office is.

, .

This word is mostly American; in Britain people say in the city centre.

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This word is part of lesson 51.