ayuntamiento

English

Etymology

From Spanish ayuntamiento.

Noun

ayuntamiento (plural ayuntamientos)

1. A corporation or body of magistrates in cities and towns in Spain, corresponding to mayor and aldermen.

Spanish

Etymology

From obsolete ayuntar ("join, gather") + -miento, ultimately from Latin adiūnctus, a contraction of ad- + iūnctus. Note how ayuntamiento preserves the Latin palatal – as does yunta ("yoke [of oxen], team [of horses]"), but not junto ("together"). Both terms equally derive from iūnctus, but only the latter underwent velarisation.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /aʝuntaˈmjento/ [a.ʝũn̪.t̪aˈmjẽn̪.t̪o]

• IPA^(key): (everywhere but Argentina and Uruguay) /aʝuntaˈmjento/ [a.ʝũn̪.t̪aˈmjẽn̪.t̪o]
• IPA^(key): (Buenos Aires and environs) /aʃuntaˈmjento/ [a.ʃũn̪.t̪aˈmjẽn̪.t̪o]
• IPA^(key): (elsewhere in Argentina and Uruguay) /aʒuntaˈmjento/ [a.ʒũn̪.t̪aˈmjẽn̪.t̪o]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ento
• Syllabification: a‧yun‧ta‧mien‧to

Noun

ayuntamiento m (plural ayuntamientos)

1. city council, town council, council (a corporation or body of magistrates in cities and towns, corresponding to mayor and aldermen)

   Synonym: alcaldía

2. city hall, town hall

   Synonym: alcaldía

3. (obsolete, uncountable) sexual intercourse

Further reading

• “ayuntamiento”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014