borough

English

/ˈbʌɹə/, /ˈbʌɹoʊ/

noun

Definitions

(obsolete) A fortified town.
(rare) A town or city.
A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights.
An administrative district in some cities, e.g., London.
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; most commonly used in American English to define the five counties that make up New York City.
Other similar administrative units in cities and states in various parts of the world.
A district in Alaska having powers similar to a county.
(historical) An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behaviour of each other.
(historical) The pledge or surety thus given.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English borwe inherited from Old English burh (fortified place, fort, town) inherited from *burg inherited from Proto-Germanic *burgz (stronghold, city, fortress, borough, fortification, hill-fort, fortified town, town, burg, castle) root from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (high, rise, fort, hill, fortified elevation, elevate, height, become high, hide, raise, mountain, elevated, protect).

Origin

Proto-Indo-European

*bʰerǵʰ-

Gloss

high, rise, fort, hill, fortified elevation, elevate, height, become high, hide, raise, mountain, elevated, protect

Concept

Semantic Field

Spatial relations

Ontological Category

Other

`Kanji`

丘, 岡, 阜

Emoji

🚠

Timeline

Distribution of cognates by language

Geogrpahic distribution of cognates

Cognates and derived terms