Arlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, six miles northwest of Boston. It is bordered on the south by the town of Belmont, on the south and east by the city of Cambridge, on the west by the town of Lexington, on the north by the town of Winchester, and on the east by the cities of Medford and Somerville.

The Town of Arlington was originally settled by European colonists in 1635 as a village under the name Menotomy, an Algonquian word meaning "fast moving water". Prior to changing the name to Arlington in 1867, the area, including part of what is now Belmont was incorporated in 1807 as West Cambridge. The name "Arlington" was chosen in honor of those buried in Arlington National Cemetery