Wordwyrt

borough

/ˈbɜːˌəʊ/BUR-oh
/ˈbɝˌoʊ/BUR-oh

Meaningfortified place

Common meaning: a town or local-government district

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√BHARK or BHRAK‘shut in, stop up, cram’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 233, p. 738 · scan
  2. Old Englishburh‘fortified place’source
  3. Middle Englishmeaning shiftsfortified place → townburgh‘town’source
  4. Englishborough‘a town or local-government district’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Old English burh ‘fortified place’.

Roots

  • burh Old English “fortified place”

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