Interurban

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to travel or connections that occur between various cities, this phrase indicates movement or communication across urban boundaries
2. This term describes systems or services designed to facilitate transport and interaction between urban locales
3. Referring to transportation methods or services that link different cities, this term encompasses the connectivity and travel options across metropolitan areas

Etymology: Interurban is a plain compound: the Latin prefix "inter-", meaning "between" or "among", attached to "urban". The Latin base "urbanus" comes from "urbs", "city", and reached English through Middle French "urbain" and Old French "-ain", so the second half of the word carries the same ancestry as urban itself. Put together, the word describes what lies between cities. The first half is worth a closer look. "Inter-" appears in many English words, from "interval" to "intercept", and it always carries the sense of "between" or "among". Here it does exactly what it does elsewhere: an interurban railway or road is one that runs between towns, rather than inside one. Because the construction is transparent, the word is less a surprising discovery than a tidy label that English speakers could assemble from familiar parts, which is why it sounds as natural as its components.

Synonyms: between cities, urban-rural

Antonyms: intraurban