Etymology

bourgeois

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Today it means: Of or relating to the middle class (often derogatory), and their presumed overly conventional, conservative, and materialistic values. Full definition →

French bourgeois ← Old French burgeis ← Frankish *burg
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bourgeois · adjective, noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*burgz“stronghold; city”
  2. Frankish · derived from*burg
  3. Old French · derived fromburgeis“town dweller”
  4. French · borrowed frombourgeois“a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate”
  5. English todaybourgeois

Unadapted borrowing from French bourgeois (“a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate”), from Old French burgeis (“town dweller”), from Frankish *burg, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold; city”) (whence borough). Doublet of burgess; compare also burgish.

bourgeois · noun2

  1. French · derived fromBourgois
  2. Middle English · inherited fromburjois
  3. English todaybourgeois

From Middle English burjois, from French Bourgois, probably from Bourges (a city in France) + -ois (forming adjectives) but possibly from bourgeois above or after Jean de Bourgeois who worked as a printer in Rouen c. 1500.

Bourgeois · proper noun3

  1. French · borrowed fromBourgeois
  2. English todayBourgeois

Borrowed from French Bourgeois

Words from the same roots

Frenchbourgeois all →

Bushway

Frankish*burg all →

burgessburglarburgBurdoburgessy

Proto-Germanic*burgz all →

boroughburgessburglarburgburrowburghbrochburgherburgessy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.