What does burgess mean?
A burgess is, in its original sense, a freeman or fully qualified citizen of an English borough — someone who enjoyed the legal rights of the town, including the ability to trade there and to participate in municipal government by voting or serving on the council. The term dates back to medieval England, when borough status conferred real privileges, and burgesses formed the political backbone of many towns; they were also the class represented by borough members in Parliament. The word crossed the Atlantic with English colonists: in colonial Virginia, elected representatives to the General Assembly were known as burgesses, making the Virginia House of Burgesses, established in 1619, the first representative legislature in what would become the United States. Today burgess is largely a historical term, encountered in studies of civic history, local government records, and institutional names, though it retains a formal dignity that evokes the traditions of self-governance in English-speaking towns.
nounA burgess is historically a freeman or citizen of an English borough, especially one having full municipal rights such as voting or serving on the town council. In colonial America, it denoted a representative elected to a colonial legislative assembly.
- A freeman or citizen of an English borough, especially one with the right to vote or hold municipal office.
- In colonial America, a member of a legislative assembly representing a town or settlement, as in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
"As a burgess of the town, he was entitled to vote in the election of the mayor."
"Only a registered burgess could take part in choosing the town's aldermen."
"In 1619, twenty-two burgesses gathered at Jamestown to form the first representative assembly in the American colonies."
The standard plural simply adds -es; note that the plural form 'burgesses' also functions as the name of legislative bodies, as in the Virginia House of Burgesses.
"The burgesses assembled to discuss the town's new charter."
The first elected legislature in what became the United States — Virginia's House of Burgesses in 1619 — took its very name from this old English word for a town's freemen.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of burgess
Burgess derives from the Old French 'burgeis', meaning an inhabitant of a town, which itself comes from 'bourg' (a fortified town), ultimately traceable through Late Latin 'burgus' to a Germanic root related to forts and strongholds. The same Germanic root gave rise to the Old English 'burg' or 'borh', the ancestor of modern 'borough', making 'burgess' and 'borough' close kin within English itself. Its continental cousins include 'burgher' (from Dutch/German) and 'bourgeois' and 'bourgeoisie' (from French, via Latin 'burgus'), all pointing back to the idea of a walled-town dweller.
How burgess is actually used
The term is chiefly historical today, appearing in discussions of medieval and early modern English civic life, local government records, and colonial American history. It carries a formal, archaic tone in modern writing, though it survives institutionally in some British borough titles and ceremonies.
Easily confused with burgess
A burgher is specifically a citizen of a continental European town or city, while a burgess refers to a freeman of an English borough or, in American history, a colonial legislator.
Bourgeois describes the middle-class property-owning class and carries social or economic connotations, whereas a burgess was a legally defined municipal citizen of a borough.