rotten borough
UK /ˌɹɒtn̩ ˈbʌɹə/ · US /ˌɹɑtn̩ ˈbʌɹoʊ/ noun
Forms rotten boroughs
- noun (historical) A parliamentary borough that was represented in Parliament although the number of voters had diminished so greatly that they were largely controlled by the main landowner; such boroughs were abolished in the 19th century.
- noun (by extension) A parliamentary constituency or electoral district in a similar situation.
Synonyms
Etymology
From rotten (“in a state of decay”) + borough (“type of administrative district”), because such boroughs were regarded as having “decayed” due to their voters moving away to other places.
Sources: Wiktionary — from the Wiktionary entry “rotten borough”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details