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borough

Pronunciation: /ˈbʌ.ɹə/

The English word “borough” has 8 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights.
  2. An administrative district in some cities, e.g., London.
  3. An administrative unit of a city which, under most circumstances according to state or national law, would be considered a larger or more powerful entity.
  4. Other similar administrative units in cities and states in various parts of the world.
  5. A district in Alaska having powers similar to a county.
  6. An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behavior of each other.
  7. A fortified town.
  8. A town or city.

Etymology

From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, burg, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”). Cognate with Dutch burcht, German Burg, Danish borg, Swedish borg, French bourg, Turkish burç. Doublet of Brough, burgh, and Bury.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.