Ton vs. Town — What's the Difference?

The ton is a unit of measure. It has a long history and has acquired a number of meanings and uses over the years.

A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.

A unit of weight equal to 2,000 pounds (0.907 metric ton or 907.18 kilograms). Also called net ton, short ton.

A population center that is larger than a village and smaller than a city.

A unit of weight equal to 2,240 pounds (1.016 metric tons or 1,016.05 kilograms). Also called long ton.

A territorial and political unit governed by a town meeting, especially in New England.

A metric ton. See Table at measurement.

(Informal) A city

A unit of capacity for cargo in maritime shipping, normally estimated at 40 cubic feet.

Chiefly British A rural village that has a market or fair periodically.

A unit of internal capacity of a ship equal to 100 cubic feet.

The residents of a town

A unit for measuring the displacement of ships, equal to 35 cubic feet, and supposed to equal the volume taken by a long ton of seawater.

An area that is more densely populated or developed than the surrounding area

A large extent, amount, or number

The residents of a community in which a university or college is located, as opposed to the students and faculty

Used adverbially with a or in the plural to mean "to a great degree or extent" or "frequently"

A group of prairie dog burrows.

A unit of weight (mass) equal to 2240 pounds (a long ton) or 2000 pounds (a short ton) or 1000 kilograms (a metric ton).

A settlement; an area with residential districts, shops and amenities, and its own local government; especially one larger than a village and smaller than a city, historically enclosed by a fence or walls, with total populations ranging from several hundred to more than a hundred thousand (as of the early 21st century)

A unit of volume; register ton.

Any more urbanized centre than the place of reference.

In refrigeration and air conditioning, a unit of thermal power defined as 12,000 BTU/h (about 3.514 kW or 3024 kcal/h), originally the rate of cooling provided by uniform isothermal melting of one short ton of ice per day at 32 °F (0 °C).

A rural settlement in which a market was held at least once a week.

A large amount.

The residents (as opposed to gown: the students, faculty, etc.) of a community which is the site of a university.

(slang) A speed of 100 mph.

(colloquial) Used to refer to a town or similar entity under discussion.

One hundred pounds sterling.

A major city, especially one where the speaker is located.

(cricket) One hundred runs.

(legal) A municipal organization, such as a corporation, defined by the laws of the entity of which it is a part.

One hundred points scored.

(obsolete) An enclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor; by extension, the whole of the land which constituted the domain.

Fashion, the current style, the vogue.

A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.

Fashionable society; those in style.

London, especially central London.

The common tunny, or horse mackerel.

Formerly: (a) An inclosure which surrounded the mere homestead or dwelling of the lord of the manor. [Obs.] (b) The whole of the land which constituted the domain. [Obs.] (c) A collection of houses inclosed by fences or walls.

The prevailing fashion or mode; vogue; as, things of ton.

Any number or collection of houses to which belongs a regular market, and which is not a city or the see of a bishop.

A measure of weight or quantity.

Any collection of houses larger than a village, and not incorporated as a city; also, loosely, any large, closely populated place, whether incorporated or not, in distinction from the country, or from rural communities.

The weight of twenty hundredweight.

The body of inhabitants resident in a town; as, the town voted to send two representatives to the legislature; the town voted to lay a tax for repairing the highways.

Forty cubic feet of space, being the unit of measurement of the burden, or carrying capacity, of a vessel; as a vessel of 300 tons burden.

A township; the whole territory within certain limits, less than those of a country.

A certain weight or quantity of merchandise, with reference to transportation as freight; as, six hundred weight of ship bread in casks, seven hundred weight in bags, eight hundred weight in bulk; ten bushels of potatoes; eight sacks, or ten barrels, of flour; forty cubic feet of rough, or fifty cubic feet of hewn, timber, etc.

The court end of London; - commonly with the.

A United States unit of weight equivalent to 2000 pounds

The metropolis or its inhabitants; as, in winter the gentleman lives in town; in summer, in the country.

A British unit of weight equivalent to 2240 pounds

A farm or farmstead; also, a court or farmyard.

An urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city;

An administrative division of a county;

The people living in a municipality smaller than a city;