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Borough English

is where the youngest son inherits instead of the eldest. It is of Saxon origin, and is so called to distinguish it from the Norman custom.

“The custom of Borough English abounds in Kent, Sussex, Surrey, the neighbourhood of London, and Somerset. In the Midlands it is rare, and north of the Humber … it does not seem to occur.”—F. Pollock: Macmillan’s Magazine, xlvi. (1882).

 

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A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Bore
Bore (in pugilistic language)
Boreal
Boreas
Borghese (Bor-ga-zy)
Borgia
Born
Born Days
Born in the Purple (a translation of porphyrogenitus)
Born with a Silver Spoon
Borough English
Borowe
Borr
Borrow
Borrowed days of February (The)
Borrowed days of March
Bortell
Bos[ei] in lingua
Bosh
Bosky
Bosom Friend (A)

See Also:

Borough English