[town.ship] n (15c) 1: an ancient unit of administration in England identical in area with or a division of a parish
2. a: town
6. b: a unit of local government in some northeastern and north central states usu. having a chief administrative officer or board c: an unorganized subdivision of the county in Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont d: an electoral and administrative district of the county in the southern U.S.
3: a division of territory in surveys of U.S. public land containing 36 sections or 36 square miles
4: an area in the Republic of South Africa segregated for occupation by persons of non-European descent