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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
Paul Bedard, The Washington Examiner, 24 Apr. 2025
Democrats shouldn't have much trouble holding the Illinois Senate race next year, as the state is solidly blue, having backed Harris by double digits last year due to the party's strength in Chicago and its suburbs.
—Ross Rosenfeld, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 Apr. 2025
Rival groups have proposed building a new racino in the south suburbs.
—Robert McCoppin, Chicago Tribune, 23 Apr. 2025
Police in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, said that Denton County Commissioner Bobbie Mitchell and her husband, Fred Mitchell, were found with stab wounds on the morning of April 21.
—Fernando Cervantes Jr., USA Today, 22 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for suburb
Cite this Entry
“Suburb.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suburb. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
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suburb
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"
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