Word.ws English Dictionary

burgess

/ˈbɜːd͡ʒɪs/UK/ˈbɜːd͡ʒɪs/

burgess noun: an inhabitant of a borough with full rights; a citizen.

Noun

burgess (plural burgesses)

  1. An inhabitant of a borough with full rights; a citizen.
    • In former days every tavern of repute kept such a room for its own select circle, a club, or society, of habitués, who met every evening, for a pipe and a cheerful glass. In this way all respectable burgesses, down to fifty years ago, spent their evenings.1892, Walter Besant, chapter III, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC
    • If any burgess be appealed of a plea whereon wager of battle may issue by a villein or outdweller , let him defend himself by oath, that is to say by the 36 men, unless he is challenged in respect of a crime that the law requires him to defend by battle, in no case ought a burgess to fight against...1907, Antiquities of Sunderland and Its Vicinity - Volumes 5-7, page 73
  2. (historical) A town magistrate.
  3. (UK, historical) A representative of a borough in the Parliament.
  4. (US, historical) 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.
  5. (Saskatchewan) A person who pays municipal taxes, a ratepayer.

Proper noun capitalized: Burgess

Burgess

  1. A surname transferred from the common noun.
  2. A township in Bond County, Illinois.
  3. An unincorporated community in Hayes Township, Charlevoix County, Michigan.
  4. A village in Barton County, Missouri.
  5. An unincorporated community in Horry County, South Carolina.
  6. An unincorporated community in Northumberland County, Virginia.

burgess meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

burgess in Hindi

बर्गेस

burgess in Tamil

குடிமக்கள், நகர உயர்குடிஆள்

burgess in Marathi

बर्गेस

burgess in Urdu

برگیس, برجیس
More languagesFewer languages
burgess in Bengali
বার্গেস, বার্জেস
burgess in Telugu
బర్గెస్, బుర్గెస్
burgess in Malayalam
ബർഗെസ്, ബർഗസ്
burgess in Kannada
ಬರ್ಗೆಸ್
burgess in Punjabi
ਬਰਗੈਸ, ਬਰਗੈੱਸ, ਬਰਗੇਸ
burgess in Gujarati
બર્ગેસ, બર્ગેજ
burgess in Odia
ବର୍ଗେସ୍, ବାର୍ଗେସ୍, ବର୍ଗେସ
burgess in Nepali
बर्गेस

Forms of burgess

pluralburgesses

Plural of burgess: burgesses

Origin of burgess

From Middle English burgeis, from Anglo-Norman burgeis (“town-dweller”), 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 borough, bourgeois, burgish.

By proprialization from burgess, which is from Anglo-Norman burgeis (“town-dweller”); more at burgess.

Words formed from burgess

Phrases with burgess

Questions about burgess

What does burgess mean?
Burgess means an inhabitant of a borough with full rights; a citizen.
What is burgess in Hindi?
Burgess in Hindi is बर्गेस. See Burgess meaning in Hindi.
What part of speech is burgess?
Burgess can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce burgess?
Burgess is pronounced /ˈbɜːd͡ʒɪs/ (UK).
What is the plural of burgess?
The plural of burgess is burgesses.

Words near burgess in the dictionary

  1. Burgers vectors
  2. burgery
  3. Burges
  4. Burgeson
  5. Burgesons
  6. burgess
  7. Burgess Hill
  8. Burgess Shale
  9. burgess-ship
  10. burgessdom
  11. burgesses

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: burgess (page history and authors); Burgess (page history and authors); burgess (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); burgess (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); burgess (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-burgess.ogg.

Cite this entry: “burgess.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/burgess. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.