hometown

hometown — noun

1. the place where you spent your childhood and that you continue to think of as yo

1.nounB1
Definition

the place where you spent your childhood and that you continue to think of as your real home, even if you later move away

Example

Priya visits her hometown in Kerala every year during the holidays.

collocation: visits + hometown

The small town of Oakville is Theo's hometown, though he now lives in Toronto.

pattern: [possessive] + hometown with contrast clause

Common collocations
  • visit + hometown
  • return to + hometown
  • leave + hometown
  • miss + hometown
  • hometown + (be/feel) proud of
  • grow up in + hometown
  • move away from + hometown
Synonyms
  • birthplace

    refers strictly to the location where someone was born, without the emotional or long-term connection that hometown implies

  • home

    broader term — can mean the building you live in now, your country, or your hometown, depending on context

  • native town

    more formal and less common in everyday speech; often used in writing about one's origins

Usage Note

Often used with a possessive determiner (my hometown, her hometown, their hometown). Can refer to any settlement size — a village, a small town, or a large city — depending on where the person grew up.

Common Mistakes

I went back to my homeland to visit my parents.
I went back to my hometown to visit my parents.
'homeland' refers to an entire country or nation, not a specific town or city.
She was born in Taipei, but her hometown is the building she lived in.
She was born in Taipei, but her hometown is the district where she grew up.
'hometown' refers to a place (town/area), not a single building.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Hometown, birthplace, and home all relate to where a person comes from, but they differ in scope and emotional weight. Hometown carries a personal, nostalgic feeling — it is the place where you grew up or feel you belong, even if you no longer live there. Birthplace is a more factual term: it refers to the specific location where you were born, often used on official documents or forms. Home is the broadest of the three — it can mean your current house, your country, or your hometown, depending on the sentence. Native town is more formal and less frequent in everyday conversation. For example: 'My hometown is a small coastal village in the south' (warm, personal). 'His birthplace is listed as Chicago on the passport' (official, factual). 'Canada has been my home for twenty years' (broad — could mean country).

birthplace ↗home ↗native town

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • hometown hero
  • hometown team
  • hometown crowd

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

Hometown comes from the Old English words 'hām' (home) and 'tūn' (town, village, or enclosure). The compound has been used since the 1600s to describe the town where a person has their roots, combining the idea of 'home' (a place of belonging) with 'town' (a specific settlement).