Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

municipal

/mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.24 in modern English

Syllables: mu-ni-ci-pal
IPA: /mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/

15

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

4

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Of or pertaining to a municipality (a city or a corporation having the right of administering local government).

adj

Of or pertaining to the internal affairs of a nation.

noun

A financial instrument issued by a municipality (e.g., municipal bonds).

Example Sentences

"More than 100 provincial and municipal firefighters were brought in, with helicopters and aircraft used to drop water and fire retardant, while bulldozers were digging firebreaks."
"“This might be the last great opportunity for preretirement baby boomers to buy municipals at such attractive levels,” said Janet Fiorenza, head of municipal fixed income at Lehman Brothers Asset Management."

Etymology

Borrowed from French municipal, from Latin mūnicipālis (“of or belonging to a citizen or a free town”), from mūniceps (“a citizen, an inhabitant of a free town”), from mūnus (“duty”) + capiō (“to take”).

Origin

Source language: Latin

Word Breakdown

Root: *mey- (change), *keh₂p-, mūnicipālis

Inflected Forms

municipals (plural)

Derived Forms

antimunicipal bimunicipal intermunicipal intramunicipal monomunicipal municipalise municipalism municipality municipalization municipalize municipally nonmunicipal

Phrases

municipal borough municipal corporation municipal engineering municipal flag municipal incorporation municipal president municipal seat

Frequently Paired Words

munificence munificent remunerate remuneration

Synonyms

civic

Questions

How do you pronounce municipal?: The recorded pronunciation is /mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/.
What does municipal mean?: Of or pertaining to a municipality (a city or a corporation having the right of administering local government).
Where does municipal come from?: It is traced to Latin.

How to pronounce municipal

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “municipal”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/mjuˈnɪsɪpəl/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “municipal”.
Repeat and practice — Say “municipal” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.