Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Borough?

\Bor"ough\, n. [OE. burgh, burw, boru, port, town, burrow, AS. burh, burg; akin to Icel., Sw., & Dan. borg, OS. & D. burg, OHG. puruc, purc, MHG. burc, G. burg, Goth. ba['u]rgs; and from the root of AS. beorgan to hide, save, defend, G. bergen; or perh. from that of AS. beorg hill, mountain. [root]95. See {Bury}, v. t., and cf. {Burrow}, {Burg}, {Bury}, n., {Burgess}, {Iceberg}, {Borrow}, {Harbor}, {Hauberk}.] 1. In England, an incorporated town that is not a city; also, a town that sends members to parliament; in Scotland, a body corporate, consisting of the inhabitants of a certain district, erected by the sovereign, with a certain jurisdiction; in America, an incorporated town or village, as in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. --Burrill. Erskine. 2. The collective body of citizens or inhabitants of a borough; as, the borough voted to lay a tax. {Close borough}, or {Pocket borough}, a borough having the right of sending a member to Parliament, whose nomination is in the hands of a single person. {Rotten borough}, a name given to any borough which, at the time of the passage of the Reform Bill of 1832, contained but few voters, yet retained the privilege of sending a member to Parliament.
\Bor"ough\, n. [See {Borrow}.] (O. Eng. Law) (a) An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behavior of each other. (b) The pledge or surety thus given. --Blackstone. Tomlins.