城裡的家
這一族守著最直接的讀法：房子在城裡。差別只在說話的人有沒有拿它跟另一棟房子比。
noun · B2
A house that stands inside a town or city, especially a fine or fashionable one on a street near the centre.
城中宅邸
核心畫面
You can think of townhouse as the two words it is made of: a house that belongs to the town. Land in a town is dear, so the house grows upward and leans in against its neighbours, with a front door straight onto the street. From that one picture the meanings fan out: the handsome house on a central street, the city half of a family who also have a place in the country, and a whole row of narrow homes sharing their walls.
townhouse 可以想成它的兩塊零件：town 加 house，一棟屬於城裡的房子。城裡地貴，房子就往上長、往兩…更多收起
townhouse 可以想成它的兩塊零件：town 加 house，一棟屬於城裡的房子。城裡地貴，房子就往上長、往兩邊靠，大門直接開在街上。從這一個畫面出發，幾個意思就散得開了。可能是市中心那棟體面的宅子。可能是有鄉下老家的人在城裡留的那個家。也可能是一整排共用牆壁的住宅。共通的底色都是「城裡、地窄、鄰居很近」。From the word’s history
The supplied source records the word simply as town plus house, so the parts are still visible in every modern use.
來源資料只把這個字記成 town 加 house。也就是說，今天每一個用法裡，這兩塊零件都還看得見。
Wiktionary, townhouse (evidence packet source_ref kaikki:3f6f69a190036ae4:1267387604:4309): From town + house.
Three branches
共用牆壁的連棟住宅
同樣從「城裡地窄」出發，但這一族把焦點從位置換到形狀：重點不再是房子在哪裡，而是它跟鄰居黏在一起。
noun · B1
In American English, one house in a row of houses that are joined together, so that it shares one wall, or a wall on each side, with the houses next to it. It usually has two or three floors and its own front door onto the street.
連棟住宅
鎮上的公家房子
這一族不是從「城裡的家」長出來的比喻，而是把 town 讀成另一個意思，所以放在自己的一格裡。
noun · C2
An older word for a town hall: the building where the business of a town is done and its records are kept.
鎮公所（舊用法）