© 2003 by New York University School of Law and Oxford University Press
Aspirational and aversive constitutionalism: The case for studying cross-constitutional influence through negative models
Kim Lane Scheppele is Professor of Law and Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
BORROW—1. trans. a. To take (a thing) on pledge or security given for its safe return; b. To take (a thing) on credit, on the understanding of returning it, or giving an equivalent; hence, to obtain or take the temporary use of (a thing recognized as being the property of another, to whom it is returnable)...
2. fig. a.....More usually of immaterial things: as, to adopt (thoughts, expressions, modes of conduct) from another person, or (words, idioms, customs, etc.) from a foreign language or people; to obtain (a temporary favour) by request; to derive (one's authority, etc.) from another, as opposed to holding it by inherent right; to draw (a comparison, inference, suggestion) from some source alien to the subject in hand; to adopt (something) for other than its normal purpose....
Oxford English Dictionary, 2d ed.