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.
Bagpipes welcomed the Eisenhowers to Maybole, where the General was made a freeman and burgess.
From Time Magazine Archive
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
It is too much that, in 1884, a duly-elected and properly-qualified burgess of Parliament should be shut outside by such votes.
From The True Story of my Parliamentary Struggle by Bradlaugh, Charles
In the same year one John Ford for his services as a witch-finder was admitted a burgess along with Lord Kinghorne.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 6 "Foraminifera" to "Fox, Edward" by Various
Yet so rich of heart was this burgess that not poverty even might make him knot his purse.
From Aucassin & Nicolette And Other Mediaeval Romances and Legends by Mason, Eugene
"We're at a transition point where climate change is shifting from being an abstract statistical future problem that you read about in reports, to a concrete present and disruptive feature of daily life," Burgess said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 9, 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 Americans hardly needed any help, but Australia gifted the U.S. its first goal anyway when defender Cameron Burgess deflected in a cross from Folarin Balogun in the 11th minute.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
She pauses at a page that holds a scrap of paper bearing the looping signature of Lainie Burgess, next to a space where an equal-sized piece has been removed, leaving only a bright blank void.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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.
