Standard Lemma guide

burgher

noun · 7 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)
  • homophone: burger
  • CMU ARPABET: B ER1 G ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.

A member of the medieval mercantile class.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.

A citizen of a medieval city.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A prosperous member of the community; a middle-class citizen (may connote complacency).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

noun

Meaning 6

a member of the middle class

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bourgeois

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: commoner, common man, common person

Narrower terms: petit bourgeois

7

noun

Meaning 7

a citizen of an English borough

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: burgess

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Englishman

History

Etymology

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.

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

Across languages

Translations

29 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Czech: měšťan — citizen of a borough or town
  • Czech: měšťanka — citizen of a borough or town
  • Esperanto: burĝo — citizen of a borough or town
  • Finnish: kaupunkilainen — citizen of a borough or town
  • French: bourgeois — citizen of a borough or town
  • French: bourgeoise — citizen of a borough or town
  • French: citadin — citizen of a borough or town
  • French: citadine — citizen of a borough or town
  • German: Bürger — citizen of a borough or town
  • German: Bürgerin — citizen of a borough or town
  • Italian: cittadino — citizen of a borough or town
  • Italian: cittadina — citizen of a borough or town
  • Macedonian: мештанин (meštanin) — citizen of a borough or town
  • Macedonian: мештанка (meštanka) — citizen of a borough or town
  • Polish: mieszczanin — citizen of a borough or town
  • Polish: mieszczanka — citizen of a borough or town
  • Russian: горожа́нин (gorožánin) — citizen of a borough or town
  • Russian: горожа́нка (gorožánka) — citizen of a borough or town
  • Slovak: mešťan — citizen of a borough or town
  • Slovak: mešťanka — citizen of a borough or town
  • Turkish: şehirli — citizen of a borough or town
  • Finnish: porvari — prosperous member of the community
  • French: bourgeois — prosperous member of the community
  • Italian: borghese — prosperous member of the community
  • Polish: burżuj — prosperous member of the community
  • Turkish: burjuva — prosperous member of the community
  • German: Burgher — member of Sri Lankan ethnic group
  • Tamil: பரங்கியர் (paraṅkiyar) — member of Sri Lankan ethnic group
  • Tamil: பறங்கியர் (paṟaṅkiyar) — member of Sri Lankan ethnic group
Real reading context

burgher in complete knowledge articles