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.
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. baúrgs; and
from the root of AS. beorgan to hide, save, defend, G.
bergen; or perh. from that of AS. beorg hill, mountain.
√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.