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The Suburbs vs. the Urbs
Given that most of the common words in our language beginning sub- tend to have meanings concerned with “beneath” (as in subterranean and submarine) or “less than” (as with subpar), you would be forgiven for assuming that the suburbs were so named because of their location below, or their status as less than, their urban counterparts. Not so, however: sub- may have other meanings at the beginning of a word; in this case, it indicates not depth or inferiority, but proximity. In other words, the suburbs are a region close to the urbs.
Is urbs an English word? Yes; it is rarely used, but it refers typically to a city, particularly when distinguished from a suburb.
Examples of suburb in a Sentence
Mike Snider, USA Today, 15 June 2026
Partying wasn’t limited to just the five boroughs, engulfing the surrounding suburbs, too.
—Sportico Staff, Sportico.com, 14 June 2026
Henry County in Atlanta's suburbs is one of the counties where voters will go to the polls for next month's special election.
—ABC News, 14 June 2026
Residents of the southern suburbs, many of whom had returned home after weeks of relative calm, could be seen fleeing.
—Julia Frankel, Los Angeles Times, 14 June 2026
See All Example Sentences for suburb
Cite this Entry
“Suburb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suburb. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
suburb
noun
Noun
Middle English suburb "part around the outer edge of a city," from early French (same meaning), from Latin suburbium (same meaning), from sub "under, close to" and urbs "city"
