burgess

Meaning

1. An inhabitant of a borough with full rights; a citizen.
2. A town magistrate.
3. A representative of a borough in the Parliament.
4. A member of the House of Burgesses, a legislative body in colonial America, established by the Virginia Company to provide civil rule in the colonies.

Synonyms

burgher

citizen

townsman

inhabitant

inmate

liver

lodger

middle class

reeve

resident

tenant

towner

indweller

bourgeois

registered citizen

civilian

denizen

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈbɜːd͡ʒɪs/

Etymology

From Middle English burgeis, from Anglo-Norman burgeis, of Proto-Germanic origin; either from Late Latin burgensis (from Latin burgus), or from Frankish *burg, both from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ-. See also bourgeois, burgish.