Karen
Thanks for the reply. Sorry for any confusion. I wanted to know the earliest
usage of the word suburb, but was also interested when it was first used in
England. Robert Helmerichs' reply suggests it was used in c12 Rome and that
the whole area outside the "city" walls was called a suburbe.
I did have the impression these suburbs were outside "Leland's" village
walls because of the mention of gates, so also wondered if it was an
overflow from the "city" as we know today, or was there another reason for
these "suburbs" being outside the walls? The references to Leland are from
his English countryside documentation, not London.
cheers
Joyce Oshyer
Karen Green wrote:
>Do I take it you mean in English? The OED gives 14th-century citations
>as the earliest usage - Wyclif and Chaucer. I'm sure a glance in the
>OLD would give the earliest Latin usage, but I don't have one of those
>here. The connotation has spread from the earliest meaning of the area
>directly outside the city walls to our modern interpretation, but the
>Wyclif and Chaucer quotes are definitely our usage.
>
>Karen
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