Borough

Bor·ough

Borough

n.
  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.
  2. The collective body of citizens or inhabitants of a borough; as, the borough voted to lay a tax.

Phrases & Compounds
Close 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.
  1. An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behavior of each other. (O. Eng. Law)