From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Borough \Bor"ough\, n. [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.
[1913 Webster]
From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Borough \Bor"ough\, n. [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.
ba['u]rgs; and from the root of AS. beorgan to hide, save,
defend, G. bergen; or perh. from that of AS. beorg hill,
mountain. [root]95. See {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.
[1913 Webster]
2. The collective body of citizens or inhabitants of a
borough; as, the borough voted to lay a tax.
[1913 Webster]
{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.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
borough
n 1: one of the administrative divisions of a large city
2: an English town that forms the constituency of a member of
parliament
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