centre-ville

town centre, downtown

noun sahn-truh-VEEL Rare

Usage Note

Centre-ville is the standard French term for the central urban area, equivalent to 'city centre' (British) or 'downtown' (American). It is a compound noun and takes a hyphen. The plural is centres-villes. It often appears in urban planning and real estate contexts: appartement en plein centre-ville means 'apartment right in the city centre.'

Examples

"Ils habitent en plein centre-ville."

Natural Translation

They live right in the city centre.

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