BOROUGH. An incorporated town; so called in the charter. It is less than a city. 1 Mann. & Gran. 1; 39 E. C. L. R. 323.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
 

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]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

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]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

79 Moby Thesaurus words for "borough": Kreis, Stadt, archbishopric, archdiocese, arrondissement, bailiwick, banlieue, bishopric, boom town, bourg, burg, burgh, canton, city, close borough, commune, congressional district, constablewick, conurbation, county, departement, diocese, district, duchy, election district, electoral district, electorate, exurb, exurbia, faubourg, gerrymander, gerrymandered district, ghost town, government, greater city, hamlet, hundred, magistracy, market town, megalopolis, metropolis, metropolitan area, municipality, oblast, okrug, outskirts, parish, pocket borough, polis, precinct, principality, province, region, riding, rotten borough, safe district, sheriffalty, sheriffwick, shire, shrievalty, silk-stocking district, single-member district, soke, spread city, stake, state, suburb, suburbia, swing district, territory, town, township, urban complex, urban sprawl, urbs, village, ville, wapentake, ward

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

borough

Source: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

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.

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)