a municipal corporation; a community, a. In France, a territorial division governed by a maire and municipal council; it is the smallest division for general administrative purposes, and is as a rule a section of a canton; towns and cities (except Paris) however form only one. b. Applied to similar administrative divisions in other countries; also to translate Ger. Gemeinde., the smallest administration division in France,Italy etc.governed by a mayor assisted by a municipal council. A public body made up of citizens,economically and politically self-sufficient and the autonomy of which is validated by the decentralized structure of the Swiss state.