Meanings
burgher1
plural burghers · alternative burger
- 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.
1879 December 21, “[Ulysses S.] Grant in Philadelphia”, in Norfolk Virginian, volume XXIX, number 24, Norfolk, Va., →OCLC, page 2, column 1- A member of the medieval mercantile class.
- A citizen of a medieval city.
- A prosperous member of the community; a middle-class citizen (may connote complacency).
Burgher2
plural Burghers · alternative Burger
- A member of a mixed-race ethnic group of Sri Lanka, consisting of descendants of European colonists and local people.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
burgher · noun
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰerǵʰ-“fortified elevation”
- Proto-Germanic*burgz
- Proto-West Germanic*burg
- Old High Germanburgāri“inhabitant of a fortress”
- Middle High Germanburger
- Middle Dutchburgher
- Middle Englishburger
- Englishburgher
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.
More words from Middle English, Middle Dutch, Middle High German
Full word history & related roots →Burgher · noun
- Dutchburger
- EnglishBurgher
From burgher (“middle-class person”) and the synonymous Dutch burger. The European colonists who mixed with natives were of that social stratum.
More words from Dutch
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Czech měšťan, měšťanka
- měšťancitizen of a borough or town
- měšťankacitizen of a borough or town
Esperanto burĝo
- burĝocitizen of a borough or town
Finnish porvari, kaupunkilainen
- porvariprosperous member of the community
- kaupunkilainencitizen of a borough or town
French bourgeois, bourgeois
- bourgeoisprosperous member of the community
- bourgeoiscitizen of a borough or town
- bourgeoisecitizen of a borough or town
- citadincitizen of a borough or town
- citadinecitizen of a borough or town
German Bürger, Bürgerin
- Bürgercitizen of a borough or town
- Bürgerincitizen of a borough or town
- Burghermember of Sri Lankan ethnic group
Italian borghese, cittadino
- borgheseprosperous member of the community
- cittadinocitizen of a borough or town
- cittadinacitizen of a borough or town
Polish burżuj, mieszczanin
- burżujprosperous member of the community
- mieszczanincitizen of a borough or town
- mieszczankacitizen of a borough or town
Russian горожа́нин, горожа́нка
- горожа́нин (gorožánin)citizen of a borough or town
- горожа́нка (gorožánka)citizen of a borough or town
Slovak mešťan, mešťanka
- mešťancitizen of a borough or town
- mešťankacitizen of a borough or town
Tamil பரங்கியர், பறங்கியர்
- பரங்கியர் (paraṅkiyar)member of Sri Lankan ethnic group
- பறங்கியர் (paṟaṅkiyar)member of Sri Lankan ethnic group
Turkish burjuva, şehirli
- burjuvaprosperous member of the community
- şehirlicitizen of a borough or town
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with burgher
All rhymes →Sounds the same
Cite this entry
burgher. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burgher
“burgher.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burgher. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burgher,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burgher.
Source: burgher on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.