burgher

See also: Burgher

English

Alternative forms

• 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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/
• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)
• Homophone: burger

Noun

burgher (plural burghers)

1. A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.
   1. A member of the medieval mercantile class.
   2. A citizen of a medieval city.
2. A prosperous member of the community; a middle-class citizen (may connote complacency).

Derived terms

• antiburgher
• burgherdom
• burgherhood
• burgherly
• burghermaster
• burghership

Related terms

• bourgeois
• burgess
• burgomaster

Translations

citizen of a borough or town

Czech: měšťan (cs) m, měšťanka (cs) f Esperanto: burĝo (eo) Finnish: kaupunkilainen (fi) French: bourgeois (fr) m, bourgeoise (fr) f, citadin (fr) m, citadine (fr) f German: Bürger (de) m, Bürgerin (de) f Italian: cittadino (it), cittadina (it) f Macedonian: мештанин m (meštanin), мештанка f (meštanka) Polish: mieszczanin (pl) m, mieszczanka (pl) f Russian: горожа́нин (ru) m (gorožánin), горожа́нка (ru) f (gorožánka) Slovak: mešťan m, mešťanka f Turkish: şehirli (tr)

prosperous member of the community

Finnish: porvari (fi) French: bourgeois (fr) m Italian: borghese (it) m Polish: burżuj (pl) m (derogatory) Turkish: burjuva (tr)