Traverse City
- proper noun
- /trəˈvɜrs ˈsɪti/
:
Traverse City
- Doak finally got a chance to prove himself when a friend recommended him to a property developer in Traverse City.
- Traverse City, Michigan
Examples
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My husband and I have a home in Traverse City and frequent the Grand Traverse Pie Co.
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It takes about seven hours for a bus to make all the stops between Detroit and Traverse City, and during that time she realizes the flaws in her plan.
Fiction book (2000) -
A sign posting the mileage to Traverse City.
Fiction book (2000) -
A young girl grows up on a cherry orchard just above Traverse City, Michigan.
Fiction book (2000) -
A young girl grows up on a cherry orchard just above Traverse City, Michigan.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The element 'city' makes it immediately clear to a B1 learner that this is a place-name (a city), so part of the meaning is transparent; however the full lexicalised meaning — that it is a specific city in northern Michigan known for tourism and cherries — is not derivable from 'traverse' + 'city'. As a proper name the referent is essentially arbitrary and requires world knowledge or prior exposure, so the expression is only partially transparent.
Etymology
Traverse City may come from the French word traverse, which means 'to cross'. Long ago, people used a short crossing over a narrow part of the bay or river there, so the place was called the 'crossing' and the town kept the name. That's why Traverse City is the name of the city today.
