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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

burgh·er

Audio Help [bur-ger] Pronunciation Key

–noun

an inhabitant of a town, esp. a member of the middle class; citizen.

[Origin: 1560–70; < MD < MHG burger, equiv. to burg borough + -er -er¹

]

—Related forms

burgh·er·ship, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Burgher

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

burgh·er Audio Help (bûr'gər) Pronunciation Key
n.

A citizen of a town or borough.
A comfortable or complacent member of the middle class.
1. A member of the mercantile class of a medieval European city.
2. A citizen of a medieval European city.

[German Bürger or Dutch burger, both from Middle High German burgaere, from Old High German burgārī, from burg, city; see bhergh-² in Indo-European roots.]

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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
burgher

1568, "freeman of a burgh," from M.Du. burgher, from M.H.G. burger, from O.H.G. burgari "inhabitant of a fortress," from burg "fortress, citadel" (see borough).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

burgher
noun
1.	a citizen of an English borough [syn: burgess]
2.	a member of the middle class [syn: bourgeois]

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Burgher

Bur"gess\, n. [OE. burgeis, OF. burgeis, fr. burcfortified town, town, F. bourg village, fr. LL. burgus fort, city; from the German; cf. MHG. burc, G. burg. See 1st Borough, and cf. 2d Bourgeois.]

1. An inhabitant of a borough or walled town, or one who possesses a tenement therein; a citizen or freeman of a borough. --Blackstone.

Note: "A burgess of a borough corresponds with a citizen of a city." --Burrill.

2. One who represents a borough in Parliament.

3. A magistrate of a borough.

4. An inhabitant of a Scotch burgh qualified to vote for municipal officers.

Note: Before the Revolution, the representatives in the popular branch of the legislature of Virginia were called burgesses; they are now called delegates.

Burgess oath. See Burgher, 2.

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