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Glite Dictionary
city center

city center

18 1.1
The main area of a city with most shops and offices
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪti ˈsɛntər/
  • US
translation icon : centro de la ciudad
  • We enjoyed shopping and dining in the busy city center during our trip.
  • away from the city center
  • far from city center
  • just beyond the city center

I worked in the city centre in Bootle St.

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Examples

  • Widely distributed around the city center, those hand-laundry operations catered to a non-Chinese clientele.

    Academic text (1995)

  • Avellino: around 1,000 students marched in the city centre and formed an assembly in a square.

    Blog text (3)

  • What we can say is that we understand why people would tell us not to visit at least the city center at this time.

  • We are south of the city center.

    Extraction (2020)

  • Ten minutes later, I got on the Number 1 bus to the city center to shop.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • You could arrive at the station in the city center in thirty minutes once you got on the train.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • We are going into Glasgow City centre, asked to go for lunch with the commissioner of BBC Scotland, which is cool.

  • We have to evacuate the city center.

    Jack the Giant Killer (2013)

  • Squeezed between hills, the city center is made up of narrow lanes and traditional shop houses.

    Academic text (1998)

  • On the bridge, the jam-packed cars inch their way away from the city center and out to Giza.

    Fiction book (2001)

Synonyms

downtown
vscity center
  • US
930 1.0

The main part of a city with many offices, shops, and restaurants

is more general, covering shopping, offices, and public buildings
central city
vscity center
4 3.3

The main busy area in the middle of a city where people work and meet

focuses more on shops, offices, and public buildings than culture
municipal center
vscity center
1 3.8

The central area of a city where the city government has offices like the council and main library

is wider, also covering shops, businesses, and other public spaces
civic center
vscity center
  • US
3.5

The central part of a city with public buildings and offices

is broader, including main shops as well as offices and public buildings

How Central

city center
  • US
18 1.1
neighborhood
  • US
∞ 1.8
suburb
286 2.7
outskirts
3.0

Surface Forms

city center singular
city centres plural
city centers plural

Morphology

city + center

The meaning 'the central part of a city' is directly compositional from 'city' (urban area) + 'center' (most important or central part); a B1 learner who knows both words can readily infer this noun–noun compound meaning. This concept and construction are cross-linguistically common (e.g. Spanish 'centro de la ciudad', French 'centre-ville'), reinforcing its transparency.

Etymology

The phrase city center comes from the simple idea of a city's central spot where markets, shops and main buildings are all together, with city and center showing the literal place. So it means the 'main' or 'most important' part of a city where people go to shop, work and visit.