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burgher

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burgher¹

  • /ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/

Sounds like burger · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)

Where it comes from

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.

noun burghers · burger

  1. A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class. When General Grant started on his tour around the world, the City of Brotherly Love was selected as the point of departure, and thence he set sail for Europe with the benisons of the sturdy burghers of the Quaker City.
  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).

Burgher²

Where it comes from

From burgher (“middle-class person”) and the synonymous Dutch burger. The European colonists who mixed with natives were of that social stratum.

noun Burghers · Burger

  1. A member of a mixed-race ethnic group of Sri Lanka, consisting of descendants of European colonists and local people.

Translations

Every language

noun citizen of a borough or town

Françaisbourgeois, bourgeoise, citadin, citadine
DeutschBürger, Bürgerin
Italianocittadino, cittadina
Русскийгорожа́нин gorožánin, горожа́нка gorožánka

noun prosperous member of the community

Françaisbourgeois
Italianoborghese

noun member of Sri Lankan ethnic group

DeutschBurgher

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Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{burgher_2026,
  title = {burgher},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/burgher},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}