burgher
Americannoun
noun
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a member of the trading or mercantile class of a medieval city
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a respectable citizen; bourgeois
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archaic a citizen or inhabitant of a corporate town, esp on the Continent
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history
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a citizen of the Cape Colony or of one of the Transvaal and Free State republics
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( as modifier )
burgher troops
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Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of burgher
1560–70; < Middle Dutch < Middle High German burger, equivalent to burg borough + -er -er 1
Explanation
Burgher is an old-fashioned term for a well-to-do resident of a town. Thanks to the wealthy burghers of your little city, the library got a fancy new cafe. This word can be used in a humorous way to mean "member of the bourgeoisie," but it originally referred to an official rank. During medieval times, privileged members of a European town (often those who were male and owned property) were given the title of burgher. City governments were composed of burghers, or “freemen of a burgh or borough.”
Vocabulary lists containing burgher
"Genesis of the Tenement," Vocabulary from the essay
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Medieval Europe - Middle School
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Medieval Europe - High School
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Anthony would marry again, this time to a woman who was a Dutch burgher of impeccable standing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
It’s not exactly Wall Street functionary — the dark shirts and abstract print ties speak to a different cinematographic stereotype — but it’s pretty close to prosperous burgher.
From New York Times ● May 19, 2022
He recruited the famous woodcut artist Lucas Cranach, a friend and wealthy Wittenberg burgher, to improve the appearance of his works.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 26, 2017
“The nobleman tells us everything through the person he presents, but the burgher does not, and should not,” Goethe writes.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 1, 2016
De Heem entered the gild of Antwerp in 1635-1636, and became a burgher of that city in 1637.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various
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.
