noun
Rare literary term for a settlement, encompassing cities, towns, and villages. Not used in modern everyday Japanese; encountered mainly in classical or formal texts.
古文書には「市邑」という語が集落を指して使われている。
In old documents, the word 市邑 is used to refer to a settlement.
Compound of 市 (market, city) and 邑 (village, hamlet). The exact historical derivation is uncertain; the spelling is conventionally associated with the meaning 'settlement'.