borough
bo·rough/ˈbʌɹ.oʊ/noun
borough is spelled B-O-R-O-U-G-H: 7 letters and 2 syllables (bo·rough). It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “boro vs borough” about 70 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, borough means “A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of borough is boroughs.
How many letters and syllables are in borough?
| Letters | 7: B-O-R-O-U-G-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: bo·rough |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is borough?
Borough appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce borough?
- UK /ˈbʌ.ɹə/
- US /ˈbʌɹ.oʊ/
- /ˈbɝ.oʊ/
Borough has 2 syllables, split bo·rough in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-borough.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with borough
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: burgh, burrow (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with borough?
3 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as borough from its last stressed vowel (/ʌɹoʊ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of borough
- boroughs plural
- boro US
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does borough mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights.
- 2
An administrative district in some cities, e.g., London.
- 3
USAn administrative unit of a city which, under most circumstances according to state or national law, would be considered a larger or more powerful entity.
- 4
Other similar administrative units in cities and states in various parts of the world.
- 5
A district in Alaska having powers similar to a county.
- 6
UKAn association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behavior of each other.
- 7
obsoleteA fortified town.
- 8
rareA town or city.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate borough?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of borough: Bor..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Borough in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Bezirk, Gemeinde, Burg , Stadtbezirk, Quartier |
| Portuguese | município, concelho, distrito |
| Spanish | municipio , concejo |
| French | arrondissement |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does borough come from?
From Middle English borwe, borgh, burgh, buruh, from Old English burh, burg, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What to look up after borough
- boro or borough? the difference
- borough or burrow? the difference
- burrow rhymes with borough
- burgh rhymes with borough
- borosilicate the entry before
- borrel the entry after
- English words starting with B the most written first
- Misspellings people search
- Count the syllables of any word
- Check the spelling of a text