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Cit"y (, n.; pl. Cities. Etym: [OE. cite, F. citcivitas citizenship, state, city, fr. civis citizen; akin to Goth. heiwa (in heiwafrauja man of the house), AS. heirath marriage, prop., providing a house, E. hind a peasant.]

1. A large town.


3. The collective body of citizens, or inhabitants of a city. "What is the city but the people" Shak.

-- See Village.

Cit"y, a.

Defn: Of or pertaining to a city. Shak. City council. See under Council.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

City - The earliest mention of city-building is that of Enoch, which was built by Cain (Genesis 4:17). After the confusion of tongues, the descendants of Nimrod founded several cities (Genesis 10:10). Next, we have a record of the cities of the Canaanites, Sidon, Gaza, Sodom, etc. (Genesis 10:12, Genesis 10:19; Genesis 11:3, Genesis 11:9; Genesis 36:31). The earliest description of a city is that of Sodom (Genesis 19:1-22). Damascus is said to be the oldest existing city in the world. Before the time of Abraham there were cities in Egypt (Numbers 13:22).
The Israelites in Egypt were employed in building the "treasure cities" of Pithom and Raamses (Exodus 1:11); but it does not seem that they had any cities of their own in Goshen (Genesis 46:34; Genesis 47:1).
In the kingdom of Og in Bashan there were sixty "great cities with walls," and twenty-three cities in Gilead partly rebuilt by the tribes on the east of Jordan (Numbers 21:21, Numbers 21:32 - 21:33, Numbers 21:35; Numbers 32:1, Numbers 32:34; Deuteronomy 3:4 - 3:5, Deuteronomy 3:14; 1 Kings 4:13).
On the west of Jordan were thirty-one "royal cities" (Joshua 12), besides many others spoken of in the history of Israel.
A fenced city was a city surrounded by fortifications and high walls, with watchtowers upon them (2 Chronicles 11:11; Deuteronomy 3:5). There was also within the city generally a tower to which the citizens might flee when danger threatened them (Judges 9:46).
There were six cities of refuge, three on each side of Jordan, namely, Kadesh, Shechem, Hebron, on the west of Jordan; and on the east, Bezer, Ramoth-gilead, and Golan. The cities on each side of the river were nearly opposite each other. The regulations concerning these cities are given in Numbers 35:9-34; Deuteronomy 19:1; Exodus 21:12.
City of David - When David reduced the fortress of the Jebusites which stood on Mount Zion, he built on the site of it a palace and a city, which he called by his own name (1 Chronicles 11:5), the city of David. Bethlehem is also so called as being David's native town (Luke 2:4).
Jerusalem is called the Holy City, the holiness of the temple being regarded as extending in some measure over the whole city (Nehemiah 11:1).

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