American History. a representative in the popular branch of the colonial legislature of Virginia or Maryland.
(formerly) a representative of a borough in the British Parliament.
Rare. an inhabitant of an English borough.
Anthony, 1917–93, English novelist and critic.
(Frank) Gelett 1866–1951, U.S. illustrator and humorist.
Thornton Waldo, 1874–1965, U.S. author, especially of children's books.
a male given name.
a citizen or freeman of a borough
any inhabitant of a borough
English history a Member of Parliament from a borough, corporate town, or university
a member of the colonial assembly of Maryland or Virginia
Anthony , real name John Burgess Wilson . 1917–93, English novelist and critic: his novels include A Clockwork Orange (1962), Tremor of Intent (1966), Earthly Powers (1980), and Any Old Iron (1989)
Guy . 1911–63, British spy, who fled to the Soviet Union (with Donald Maclean) in 1951
1175–1225; Middle English burgeis < Anglo-French, Old French, equivalent to burg city (< Germanic ) + -eis < Latin -ēnsis -ensis; cf. -ese
Historically, a burgess was an important citizen. A free, male inhabitant of a medieval English borough was known as a burgess. A burgess was originally a fairly ordinary citizen, and the word shares a root with the French bourgeois, "member of the middle class." In England, it came to mean an elected official, or someone who represents a borough in the House of Commons. The American Colonies of Virginia and Maryland adopted a similar use of burgess, establishing a House of Burgess where elected representatives governed alongside a British-appointed governor.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Since the conquerors felt they must stick together, it was possible for an ambitious young Norman lad, though only the son of a Cheapside burgess, to get a helping hand from Norman nobles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Bagpipes welcomed the Eisenhowers to Maybole, where the General was made a freeman and burgess.
From Time Magazine Archive
Thereat the burgess began to smile, and made reply that he would learn the meaning of those words.
From Aucassin & Nicolette And Other Mediaeval Romances and Legends by Mason, Eugene
Why weep ye so, ye burgess wives,65 Why look ye so on me?
From English and Scottish Ballads (volume 3 of 8) by Various
"A most respectable lineage," said tho burgess, quite awe-struck at so glorious a descent.
From William Shakespeare as he lived. An Historical Tale by Curling, Henry
In his Canberra speech, Burgess defended the agency as it faced "concurrent, cascading, and compounding threats", and revealed details of investigations into two antisemitic firebombings traced to Iran.
From Barron's ● Jun. 24, 2026
A circulation pattern over Europe is creating "the equivalent of a traffic jam in the atmosphere which locks in heat", Samantha Burgess from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Jun. 23, 2026
That sequence started with a free kick following a foul by Burgess.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
The company, also known as Burgess and Leigh, uses craft traditions such as a tissue transfer printing technique to create its products.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
And soon everything Mason Darlington Burgess had ever wanted slipped through his fingers and floated up into the air, where it spread like a fog throughout the entire wide room.
From "A Tangle of Knots" by Lisa Graff
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
