townsman vs peer

townsman and peer both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
townsman	Yes	No	No	No
peer	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, peer is a hypernym of townsman; that is, peer is a word with a broader meaning than townsman:

Other hypernyms of townsman include compeer, equal, match.

townsman (noun)	peer (noun)
a person from the same town as yourself	a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
a resident of a town or city	a nobleman (duke or marquis or earl or viscount or baron) who is a member of the British peerage

townsman (verb)	peer (verb)
	look searchingly