ABSTRACT
The word 'city' is just one of many terms to have entered the language of Anglo-Saxon England as an increasing number of settlements exercised functions which were recognizably urban. The word cite was used in English by the thirteenth century, by which time it was applied not only to ancient cities but to important English boroughs such as London and Lincoln. By the twelfth century some towns were beginning to acquire formal liberties, and those referred to as 'borough' had rights and privileges. Between the thirteenth and seventeenth centuries towns grew in importance and acquired further privileges, usually as a result of the merchant elites seeking to free their communities from the influence of local lords. Since the mid-nineteenth century, city status has been transformed from a distinction attached to a town with a cathedral, to a mark of civic esteem in the eyes not just of this country, but of the world.
