BOROUGHS
Noun
boroughs
plural of borough
Source: Wiktionary
BOROUGH
Bor"ough, n. Etym: [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. baúrgs; and from the root of
AS. beorgan to hide, save, defend, G. bergen; or perh. from that of
AS. beorg hill, mountain. 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. Etym: [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.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition