BOROUGH • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Borough

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/bˈərˌoʊ/ Listen

noun

Borough n.

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.

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.

Borough n. (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.

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Etymology of 'Borough'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Borough" Quotes from Famous Books

... shout at this, and as soon as silence came again the dark man said firmly, "Now, gentlemen, to settle the business on hand. We're not going to make the Yukon gold region a close borough." ...

— To Win or to Die - A Tale of the Klondike Gold Craze • George Manville Fenn

... of those sneaking hounds who are satisfied with dog's wages, a bit of bread and a kick. Work, indeed! who, with the spirit of a man, would work for a country where there is neither liberty of speech nor of action, a land full of beggarly aristocracy, hungry borough-mongers, insolent parsons, and 'their —- wives and daughters,' as William ...

— Isopel Berners - The History of certain doings in a Staffordshire Dingle, July, 1825 • George Borrow

... command of the unfortunate Sir Hugh Willoughby, who perished in Lapland, with all his crew. One of his lieutenants, Chancellor, was at first successful, and opened a direct route through the Polar Sea. But he also, while making a second attempt, was shipwrecked, and perished. A captain, Stephen Borough, who was sent in search of him, succeeded in making his way through the strait which separates Nova Zembla from the Island of Waigate and in penetrating into the Sea of Kara. But the fog and ice prevented ...

— The Waif of the "Cynthia" • Andre Laurie and Jules Verne

... ebb. She was standing on the shingle. But she looked in vain for a waterman. There were plenty of boats on the river, most of them loaded with merry parties returning from Spring Gardens, Vauxhall, and no boats were plying for hire. She dared not ascend to the Borough. Bullies and thieves abounded in the southern approaches to the bridge. She crept down to one of the abutments of the bridge and tremulously listened to the turmoil going ...

— Madame Flirt - A Romance of 'The Beggar's Opera' • Charles E. Pearce

... observed. Much more important are the intangibles. These include the scholastic standing of the particular school; the pedagogical ability and personality of the individual teachers; and, finally, whether those who manage village, borough, or town governments, ...

— If You're Going to Live in the Country • Thomas H. Ormsbee and Richmond Huntley

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