English Explanatory Dictionary

burgher

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.
  2. A member of the medieval mercantile class.
  3. A citizen of a medieval city.
  4. A prosperous member of the community; a middle-class citizen (may connote complacency).
noun
  1. A member of a mixed-race ethnic group of Sri Lanka, consisting of descendants of European colonists and local people.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/

Word forms

burgher burghers burger

Etymology

From Middle English burger, burgher, burghere, equivalent to burgh + -er (“inhabitant of”). Likely merged with and reinforced by Middle Dutch burgher (Modern Dutch: burger); from Middle High German burger (Modern German: Bürger); from Old High German burgāri (“inhabitant of a fortress”); derivative of burg (“fortress, citadel”), from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“fortified elevation”). Compare also Old English burgwaras (“inhabitants of a burg, burghers, citizens”) and Serbo-Croatian purger. More at borough.

Related words

bourgeois burgess burgomaster

Derived words

antiburgher burgherdom burgherhood burgherly burghermaster burghership

Translations

Czech: měšťan Czech: měšťanka Esperanto: burĝo Finnish: kaupunkilainen French: bourgeois French: bourgeoise French: citadin French: citadine German: Bürger German: Bürgerin Italian: cittadino Italian: cittadina Macedonian: мештанин Macedonian: мештанка Polish: mieszczanin Polish: mieszczanka Russian: горожа́нин Russian: горожа́нка Slovak: mešťan Slovak: mešťanka Turkish: şehirli
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