burgher

[ bur-ger ]
See synonyms for burgher on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. an inhabitant of a town, especially a member of the middle class; citizen.

Origin of burgher

1
1560–70; <Middle Dutch <Middle High German burger, equivalent to burgborough + -er-er1

Other words from burgher

  • burgh·er·ship, noun

Words that may be confused with burgher

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use burgher in a sentence

  • In the famous "burghers' parlor" their solemn deliberations took place.

    Catherine de' Medici | Honore de Balzac
  • "The Lorrains are, even now, endeavoring to turn the burghers against you," remarked Birago.

    Catherine de' Medici | Honore de Balzac
  • Her father had made the haughty burghers of Ghent bow before him, but as soon as he was dead they rose again.

    Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond
  • Calvin, like all burghers raised to moral sovereignty, and all inventors of social systems, was eaten up with jealousy.

    Catherine de' Medici | Honore de Balzac
  • These were mercenaries and not to be depended on, and the burghers themselves were not so hardy as of old.

    Belgium | George W. T. (George William Thomson) Omond

British Dictionary definitions for burgher

burgher

/ (ˈbɜːɡə) /


noun
  1. a member of the trading or mercantile class of a medieval city

  2. a respectable citizen; bourgeois

  1. archaic a citizen or inhabitant of a corporate town, esp on the Continent

  2. Southern African history

    • a citizen of the Cape Colony or of one of the Transvaal and Free State republics

    • (as modifier): burgher troops

Origin of burgher

1
C16: from German Bürger, or Dutch burger freeman of a borough

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012