borough

[ bur-oh, buhr-oh ]

noun

1. (in certain states of the U.S.) an incorporated municipality smaller than a city.
2. one of the five administrative divisions of New York City.
3. British.
   1. an urban community incorporated by royal charter, similar to an incorporated city or municipality in the U.S.
   2. a town, area, or constituency represented by a Member of Parliament.
   3. (formerly) a fortified town organized as and having some of the powers of an independent country.
4. (in Alaska) an administrative division similar to a county in other states.

borough

/ ˈbʌrə /

noun

1. See burgh
   a town, esp (in Britain) one that forms the constituency of an MP or that was originally incorporated by royal charter See also burgh
2. any of the 32 constituent divisions that together with the City of London make up Greater London
3. any of the five constituent divisions of New York City
4. (in the US) a self-governing incorporated municipality
5. (in medieval England) a fortified town or village or a fort
6. (in New Zealand) a small municipality with a governing body

Word History and Origins

Origin of borough¹

before 900; Middle English burw ( e ), borwg ( h ), borogh, bor ( u ) g, bur ( u ) g, burgh town, Old English burg fortified town; cognate with Old Norse borg, Old Saxon, Dutch burg, German Burg castle, Gothic baurgs city; MIr brí, brig, Welsh, Breton bre hill, Avestan bərəz- height; akin to Armenian bardzr, Hittite parkus high. See barrow ².

Word History and Origins

Origin of borough¹

Old English burg ; related to beorgan to shelter, Old Norse borg wall, Gothic baurgs city, Old High German burg fortified castle

Example Sentences

The small borough had to arrange a “special emergency appropriation” to come up with Caruso’s cash and paid in installments.

From ProPublica

Queensbridge consists of 26 Y-shaped buildings in the shadow of the bridge that connects midtown Manhattan with the borough of Queens.

From Popular-Science

The list of cities where renting is a better deal than buying includes Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn in New York City.

From Fortune

The virus was taking the worst toll in the Bronx, and Bronxwood sat within the borough’s hardest-hit ZIP code, although it would be weeks until anyone would know this.

From ProPublica

Top administrative judges as a result moved her to the Bronx that year, and she handled both civil and criminal matters in the borough until her retirement.

From ProPublica

Guy Molinari, a former Staten Island borough president, pushed back against that view.

From The Daily Beast

The borough officially became the least affordable place to live in America.

From The Daily Beast

Take, for example, the borough of the Bronx in New York City.

From The Daily Beast

The disadvantage for the borough is its location in a big blue state.

From The Daily Beast

This point was not missed by the Queens Borough President, Melinda Katz.

From The Daily Beast

He looked up from his fish and replied, somewhat cuttingly, "By contesting a borough and getting elected."

From Project Gutenberg

At the end of 1881 there were 93,776 children in the borough between the ages of three and thirteen.

From Project Gutenberg

Lockmakers are not so numerous here as they once were, though several well known patentees still have their works in the borough.

From Project Gutenberg

Two Irish soldiers being stationed in a borough in the west of England, got into a conversation respecting their quarters.

From Project Gutenberg

Here we are eleven miles from the Borough, and at the end of the first stage out of London in the old days of the mail-coaches.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• district
• precinct