burgher

American  

[bur-ger] / ˈbɜr gər /

noun

1. an inhabitant of a town, especially a member of the middle class; citizen.

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burgher British  

/ ˈbɜːɡə /

noun

1. a member of the trading or mercantile class of a medieval city

2. a respectable citizen; bourgeois

3. archaic a citizen or inhabitant of a corporate town, esp on the Continent

4. history

   1. a citizen of the Cape Colony or of one of the Transvaal and Free State republics

   2. ( as modifier )

      burgher troops

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Other Word Forms

• burghership noun

Etymology

Origin of burgher

1560–70; < Middle Dutch < Middle High German burger, equivalent to burg borough + -er -er ¹

Example Sentences

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

These are marvelous, and so is the cured cucumber, with a black filigree of char as delicately applied as the lace around the neck of one of Rembrandt’s burghers.

From New York Times

That Rogers was able to persuade the burghers of Paris and the stuffed shirts of Lloyd's to commission such extraordinary structures says much for his powers of persuasion.

From BBC

The burghers demanded clean water, and the canal’s builders overcame treacherous topography to provide it, leaving us this 50-mile-long marvel.

From New York Times

But experts say that, while some may entertain the notion of thieves stealing on commission for burghers fascinated by the Dutch Golden Age, the motivations for such thefts are likely more pedestrian.

From New York Times

Related Words

• inhabitant
• national
• resident
• taxpayer