Dictionary

town square en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio

Meanings

1. An open area commonly found in the heart of a traditional town, used for community gatherings.
   • We sit at a cafe in the crisp morning air, looking down the gradually descending town square towards the gothically vertiginous fifteenth-century St Egidius church. The platz is ringed by steeply gabled pastel burghers' houses and in the centre sits the medieval town hall. 2003 November 2, Tom Templeton, “Worth more than 15 minutes”, in The Guardian, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Mar 2021:
2. (broadly) An online space or platform which serves a similar function.
   • In Saudi Arabia, where a relatively closed culture leaves citizens few public forums to discuss news and politics, Twitter has become a kind of town square, the place where citizens meet to swap information and debate the latest issues. 2019 November 7, Ben Hubbard, “Why Spy on Twitter? For Saudi Arabia, It’s the Town Square”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 31 Oct 2020:
   • Mr. Musk went on to say that the reason he was buying Twitter was “because it is important to the future of the civilization to have a common digital town square,” where a “wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner without resorting to violence.” 2022 October 27, Lauren Hirsch, quoting Elon Musk, “Elon Musk Reaches Out to Advertisers Ahead of Deadline for Twitter Deal”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 09 Nov 2022:
   • Mr. Musk has frequently expressed concern that Twitter’s content moderators go too far and intervene too much on the platform, which he sees as the internet’s “de facto town square.” 2022 April 25, Melina Delkic, quoting Elon Musk, “4 ways Twitter could change under Elon Musk.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 08 Jul 2022:

Forms

Relateds

civic centre

Synonyms

piazza · public square · plaza · central square · urban square · public square · city square

Translations (31)

de Stadtplatz (open area in a town) · fi aukio (open area in a town) · cmn 線上廣場 /线上广场 (online space) · cmn 網絡公共空間 /网络公共空间 (online space) · ast plaza (open area in a town) · ka მოედანი (open area in a town) · cmn 城鎮廣場 /城镇广场 (open area in a town) · lmo piasa (open area in a town) · es plaza de armas (open area in a town) · sv stortorg (open area in a town) · ca plaça (open area in a town) · es plaza (open area in a town) · fi keskustori (open area in a town) · pt praça (open area in a town) · gl praza (open area in a town) · pl plac (open area in a town) · eo placo (open area in a town) · fi tori (open area in a town) · el πλατεία (open area in a town) · cmn 市鎮廣場 /市镇广场 (open area in a town) · mk плоштад (open area in a town) · fr place (open area in a town) · ha dandàlī (open area in a town) · es azogue (open area in a town) · fi aukio (online space) · an plaza (open area in a town) · es zócalo (open area in a town) · id alun-alun (open area in a town) · scn chiazza (open area in a town) · it piazza (open area in a town) · sv torg (open area in a town)