Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

borstal

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.10 in modern English

Syllables: borstal
IPA

9

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A way up a hill in the South Downs.

British usage

noun

Any of the prisons set up in Britain for delinquent boys from 1895 to 1983.

noun

Any institution which provides education to young offenders.

British usage

name

A suburb, formerly a village, in Rochester, Medway borough, Kent, England (OS grid ref TQ7366).

Example Sentences

"You have juvenile courts. Do you have borstal institutions for juveniles?"
"Seven years ago, I was sent to borstal. Slithering around in the societal sludge, I was forced to admit I'd made a huge mistake – committing robbery."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English *borstile, *borghstile, from Old English beorh (“a hill”) + stigel (“a stile”). The institutions are named after Borstal Prison in Borstal, Rochester, Kent, England.

Origin

Source language: Middle English

Word Breakdown

Root: *borstile, beorh

Usage

British usage

Inflected Forms

borstals (plural) bostal (alternative)

Derived Forms

Borstalian

Phrases

borstal training

Synonyms

reformatory

Questions

What does borstal mean?: A way up a hill in the South Downs.
Where does borstal come from?: It is traced to Middle English.

How to pronounce borstal

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