Wordwyrt

burgess

/ˈbɜːdʒəs/BUR-juhs
/ˈbɝdʒəs/BUR-juhs

Meaningfortress

Common meaning: citizen or representative of a borough

Journey through time

  1. Aryan root · reconstructed√BHARK or BHRAK‘shut in, stop up, cram’No written record; from Skeat’s list of Aryan roots, no. 233, p. 738 · scan
  2. Middle High Germanburc‘fortress’source
  3. Medieval Latinburgus‘fort’source
  4. Old Frenchmeaning shiftsfort → a citizenburgeis‘a citizen’source
  5. Middle Englishmeaning shiftsa citizen → town inhabitantburgeys‘town inhabitant’source
  6. Englishmeaning shiftstown inhabitant → citizen or representative of a boroughburgess‘citizen or representative of a borough’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Middle High German burc ‘fortress’.

Roots

  • burc Middle High German “fortress”

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