English Dictionary: Borough | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for Borough | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
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From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Borough \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. | |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
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[a3]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. |