AYUNTAMIENTO, the Spanish name for the district over which a town council has administrative authority; it is used also for a town-council or a town-hall. It is derived from the Lat. adiungere, and originally meant "meeting." The ayun tamiento consisted of the official members, and of regidores or regulators, who were chosen in varying proportions from the hidalgos or nobles and the pecheros or commoners. This dis tinction has now been abolished, and the powers and the consti tution of ayuntamientos have been much altered.