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Borough vs Shire - What's the difference?

borough | shire |

As nouns the difference between borough and shire

is that borough is a fortified town while shire is former administrative area of Britain; a county.

As a proper noun Borough

is the area, properly called Southwark, just south of London Bridge.

As a verb shire is

to (re)constitute as one or more shires or counties.

borough

English

Alternative forms

* boro

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) A fortified town.
  • (rare) A town or city.
  • A town having a municipal corporation and certain traditional rights.
  • An administrative district in some cities, e.g., London.
  • *{{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham), title=(The China Governess)
    • , chapter=7 citation , passage=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.}}
  • An administrative unit of a city which, under most circumstances according to state or national law, would be considered a larger or more powerful entity; most commonly used in American English to define the five counties that make up New York City.
  • Other similar administrative units in cities and states in various parts of the world.
  • A district in Alaska having powers similar to a county.
  • (historical, British, legal) An association of men who gave pledges or sureties to the king for the good behaviour of each other.
  • (historical, British, legal) The pledge or surety thus given.
    • (Blackstone)
    (Tomlins)
    (Webster 1913)

    Derived terms

    * boroughhood * -borough * municipal borough * parliamentary borough

    Related terms

    * burgh * -bury

    shire

    English

    Noun

    (wikipedia shire) (en noun)
  • Former administrative area of Britain; a county.
    • Yorkshire is the largest shire in England.
  • (UK, colloquial) The general area in which a person lives, used in the context of travel within the UK.
    • When are you coming back to the shire ?
  • A rural or outer suburban local government area of Australia.
  • A shire horse.

    • Verb

    (shir)
  • To (re]])constitute as one or more shires or [[county, counties.
  • * 1985 , Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy , page 291:
    • Although he still managed formally to shire the province in the summer and autumn of 1585, his plan to establish a presidential government and complete the integration of Ulster into English Ireland met with royal indifference.
  • * 2012 , James Lydon, The Making of Ireland: From Ancient Times to the Present (ISBN 1134981503), page 160:
    • The province was shired into nine counties,
    County Longford was shired in 1586

    Anagrams

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