burgher

/ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/

Etymology

From Middle English burger, burgher, burghere, equivalent to burgh + -er (“inhabitant of”). Likely merged with and reinforced by Middle Dutch burgher (Modern Dutch: burger); from Middle High German burger (Modern German: Bürger); from Old High German burgāri (“inhabitant of a fortress”); derivative of burg (“fortress, citadel”), from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“fortified elevation”). Compare also Old English burgwaras (“inhabitants of a burg, burghers, citizens”) and Serbo-Croatian purger. More at borough.

noun

A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.; A member of the medieval mercantile class.
A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.; A citizen of a medieval city.
A prosperous member of the community; a middle-class citizen (may connote complacency).
A member of a mixed-race ethnic group of Sri Lanka, consisting of descendants of European colonists and local people.