borough

noun

bor·​ough ˈbər-(ˌ)ō 

ˈbə-(ˌ)rō

1

a

: a medieval fortified group of houses forming a town with special duties and privileges

b

: a town or urban constituency in Great Britain that sends a member to Parliament

c

: an urban area in Great Britain incorporated for purposes of self-government

2

a

: a municipal corporation proper in some states (such as New Jersey and Minnesota) corresponding to the incorporated town or village of the other states

b

: one of the five constituent political divisions of New York City

3

: a civil division of the state of Alaska corresponding to a county in most other states

Examples of borough in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Neither the borough nor the Quakertown police department are commenting at this time. —Liz Crawford, CBS News, 27 Feb. 2026

Agents had with them a missing child bulletin for a 5-year-old girl, but arrested the undergraduate student, according to the borough president, Brad Hoylman-Sigal. —Cayla Bamberger, New York Daily News, 26 Feb. 2026

Note that there are also many of the smaller villages/hamlets/boroughs on this list. —Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 25 Feb. 2026

Zepbound injection pen arranged in the Brooklyn borough of New York on March 28, 2024. —Alex Harring, CNBC, 24 Feb. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English burgh, from Old English burg fortified town; akin to Old High German burg fortified place, and probably to Old English beorg hill — more at barrow

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Phrases Containing borough

• borough English
• borough hall
• county borough
• inter-borough
• metropolitan borough
• municipal borough
• pocket borough
• rotten borough

Rhymes for borough

• acknow
• aglow
• ago
• airglow
• aloe
• altho
• although
• ammo
• backflow
• backhoe
• banjo
• barbeau

Kids Definition

borough

noun

bor·​ough ˈbər-ō 

1

a

: a town or urban area in Great Britain that sends a member to Parliament

b

: a self-governing urban area in Great Britain

2

: a self-governing town or village in some states

3

: one of the five political divisions of New York City