municipale

Municipale is a term used in Romance-language contexts to describe things related to a municipality, i.e., the local government and the corporate body that administers a city, town, or other local district. It designates anything pertaining to civic administration rather than national institutions.

In Italian, municipale is an adjective meaning municipal. It appears in phrases such as amministrazione municipale (municipal administration) and ente municipale (municipal entity) or azienda municipale (municipal enterprise). The term is also widely used in the name of the local police: polizia municipale, the police responsible for traffic control, enforcement of local ordinances, and civil protection; in several regions they are known as vigili urbani.

In French, municipale is the feminine form of municipal. It occurs in phrases such as police municipale (municipal police), administration municipale (municipal administration), and élections municipales (local elections). The town hall is la mairie, and it houses the municipal administration.

In English, municipale is rarely used; the usual terms are municipal, municipality, and municipal government.

Originating from Latin municipalis, via Old French and Italian, the word has cognates across Romance languages and is typically used to distinguish local government matters from national administration.