Dictionary

oppidan en · ADJ

Etymology

From Latin oppidānus (“of a town, provincial”), from oppidum (“town which is not an urbs”) + -ānus (“-an”, adjective-forming suffix), by surface analysis, oppid(um) + -an.

Meanings

1. (not-comparable, rare) Of or pertaining to a town or conurbation.
   • ... calculating the portions of the population, which are purely oppidan, suburban and rural, separately, ... 1843, George Calvert Holland, The Vital Statistics of Sheffield, page 106:
   • The beggar whom Elia encounters... is an oppidan caricature of the old man in “Witches” who was conjured up in the demonic vision, a dark, irrational double that overwhelms and destroys innocence. 1984, Gerald Cornelius Monsman, Confessions of a Prosaic Dreamer: Charles Lamb's art of autobiography, →ISBN, page 78:
   • In terms of socio-economic impact, it appears that the water mill was an oppidan development in the Roman possessions, including Dacia. 1982, Ion Miclea, Corneliu Bucur, An Ages-old Civilization:

oppidan en · NOUN

Etymology

From Latin oppidānus (“of a town, provincial”), from oppidum (“town which is not an urbs”) + -ānus (“-an”, adjective-forming suffix), by surface analysis, oppid(um) + -an.

Meanings

1. (obsolete, rare) A town dweller.
   • But money is all-potent, and wealthy oppidans soon found means to elbow the aristocracy in their choicest assemblies. 1856, John Wade, England's Greatness, page 496:
2. (qualifier:also Oppidan) A class of student in traditional English public schools such as Eton; opposed to colleger or King's Scholar.
   • ... might conceivably imply that he did not live, as the custom had been for such boys, in the Abbot's own house, but lodged in the town of Winchester and perhaps attended the College as an oppidan, or townsman. 1983, Bridget Boland, Muriel St. Clare Byrne, The Lisle Letters, →ISBN, page 96:

Forms