• adv. 往闹市区；在市区
• adj. 市中心的
• n. 市中心区；三分线以外

通常认为该词来自早期纽约市的规划，在1830年的时候，纽约城区集中在曼哈顿岛南端，后来，随着经济的发展北扩，而up and down对应于地图上北和南。后来，downtown就作为市中心的代称，而uptown则作为居住区的代称。

downtown (n.)

1835, from down (adv.) + town. The notion is of suburbs built on heights around a city.

1. There is heavy traffic in the downtown area tonight.

今夜闹市区交通繁忙。

来自《权威词典》

2. a downtown shopping plaza

市中心的购物区

来自《权威词典》

3. The city is providing free transportation to the stadium from downtown.

本市现在提供从市中心到体育场的免费交通。

来自《权威词典》

4. The councillors put the problem of downtown parking before the mayor.

议员们向市长提出了市内停车的问题.

来自《简明英汉词典》

5. This was, New York apart, the first American city I had ever been in where people actually lived downtown.

除了纽约，这是我到过的第一个人们确实住在市中心的美国城市。

来自柯林斯例句