burgess
See also: Burgess
English edit
Etymology edit
From Middle English burgeis,[1] from Anglo-Norman burgeis, of Proto-Germanic origin; either from Late Latin burgensis (from Latin burgus), or from Frankish *burg, both from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ-.[2] See also bourgeois, burgish.
Pronunciation edit
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜːd͡ʒɪs/
Audio (US) (file)
Noun edit
burgess (plural burgesses)
- An inhabitant of a borough with full rights; a citizen.
- 1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:
- In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. In this way all respectable burgesses, down to fifty years ago, spent their evenings.
- (historical) A town magistrate.
- (historical, UK) A representative of a borough in the Parliament.
- (historical, US) A member of the House of Burgesses, a legislative body in colonial America, established by the Virginia Company to provide civil rule in the colonies.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
inhabitant of a borough with full rights
References edit
- ^ Burgess (title) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “burgess”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.