borstal

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borstal^¹

Where it comes from

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.

noun borstals · bostal

UK A way up a hill in the South Downs.
historical Any of the prisons set up in Britain for delinquent boys from 1895 to 1983.
Similar: reformatory
Ireland, UK Any institution which provides education to young offenders. You have juvenile courts. Do you have borstal institutions for juveniles?

Borstal^²

proper noun

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

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MLA

"borstal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/borstal. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

borstal. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/borstal

Chicago

"borstal." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/borstal.

BibTeX

@misc{borstal_2026,
  title = {borstal},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/borstal},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}