Borough Meaning
/ˈbʌ.ɹə/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounA fortified town.
nounA town or city.
Sentence Examples
Manhattan is the best-known borough in New York.
Queens is my favorite borough.
The Bronx is a borough of New York City.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Queens is a popular ____ of New York City with diverse cultures.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city is divided into several ____, each with its own local council.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, burg, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”). Cognate with Dutch burcht, German Burg, Danish borg, Swedish borg, French bourg, Turkish burç. Doublet of Brough, burgh, and Bury.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The highway to the East Coast which ran through the borough of Ebbfield had always been a main road and even now, despite the vast garages, the pylons and the gaily painted factory glasshouses which had sprung up beside it, there still remained an occasional trace of past cultures."
— 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Queens is a popular ____ of New York City with diverse cultures.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city is divided into several ____, each with its own local council.