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• burgess
  burgess

  noun

  a representative in the popular branch of the colonial legislature of Virginia or Maryland.
• Burgess
  Burgess

  noun

  Anthony, 1917–93, English novelist and critic.

burgess

¹ American  

[bur-jis] / ˈbɜr dʒɪs /

noun

1. American History. a representative in the popular branch of the colonial legislature of Virginia or Maryland.

2. (formerly) a representative of a borough in the British Parliament.

3. Rare. an inhabitant of an English borough.

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Burgess ² American  

[bur-jis] / ˈbɜr dʒɪs /

noun

1. Anthony, 1917–93, English novelist and critic.

2. (Frank) Gelett 1866–1951, U.S. illustrator and humorist.

3. Thornton Waldo, 1874–1965, U.S. author, especially of children's books.

4. a male given name.

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burgess ¹ British  

/ ˈbɜːdʒɪs /

noun

1. 1. a citizen or freeman of a borough

   2. any inhabitant of a borough

2. English history a Member of Parliament from a borough, corporate town, or university

3. a member of the colonial assembly of Maryland or Virginia

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Burgess ² British  

/ ˈbɜːdʒɪs /

noun

1. 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)

2. Guy . 1911–63, British spy, who fled to the Soviet Union (with Donald Maclean) in 1951

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Etymology

Origin of burgess

1175–1225; Middle English burgeis < Anglo-French, Old French, equivalent to burg city (< Germanic ) + -eis < Latin -ēnsis -ensis; cf. -ese

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Explanation

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

burgess Burgess

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

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 Eugene Mason

In 1551 he was admitted burgess of Geneva, and in 1553 made pastor of a country church in the neighbourhood.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 4 "G" to "Gaskell, Elizabeth" by Various

Losing their place in the national scheme of defence, the burgess “cnihts” made commerce their principal object under the encouragement of the old privileges of the walled place.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Slice 3 "Borgia, Lucrezia" to "Bradford, John" by Various

Judge Burgess said the attack caused "serious fear and disruption" to other road users and holidaymakers, adding how witnesses thought it was a "terrorist incident" or "car-jacking".

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

"Humans haven't seen temperatures as hot as today for, arguably, at least the last 100,000 years," Samantha Burgess from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, which oversees Copernicus, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026

When Cameron isn’t practicing his moves with pro partner Sharna Burgess, the “Bachelorette” alum has a very personal real estate project to retreat to: his extensively renovated home in Jupiter, Fla.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 8, 2026

Britt, from Burgess Hill in West Sussex, describes how groups of riders on powerful electric motorbikes regularly race through the streets.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026

“A circus?” says Lainie Burgess with a smile.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

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Related Words

• inhabitant
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