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burguesía

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Etymology and origin of the Spanish word burguesía

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1619 Luis Cabrera de Córdoba, Historia de Felipe II, spelt burgesía More words from the 17th century
Ultimate origin
Late Latin burgus

Pronunciation

  • /buɾɡeˈsia/, [buɾ.ɣ̞eˈsi.a][1]

Forms

burguesía f (plural burguesías)[1] The early records have the spelling burgesía beside burguesía.[2]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish burgués + -ía.[3][4][5] The base word is a form refitted to burgo, replacing the older learned Old Spanish burgés of the Cid, Berceo and Juan Ruiz and the semi-popular burzés of the 11th–13th centuries; both were taken from Late Latin burgensis.[6][5] This is a derivative of burgus, which appears around 400 AD and in Latin inscriptions of the Rhine.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest CDH record is in Luis Cabrera de Córdoba's Historia de Felipe II (c. 1619), where two thousand are to be shared out among the burgesía of ⟨Grabelinghe⟩ to win them over.[2] The early records speak of the citizens of towns abroad, mostly in Flanders: in 1635 Mascareñas tells how a palace was sacked because the burguesía did not take up arms.[2] Corominas dates the word to 1646, in the Estebanillo González, which praises the burgesía of a country for its wit and trade.[6][5][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the word took on its social and political meaning.[2] Juan Valera, in his letters of 1847–1857, contrasts the princes and boyars with a burguesía he does not know, and the 1880 programme of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party sets the burguesía, owner of the instruments of labour, against the proletariado.[2] The Academy entered it in 1899 as the body of burgueses or middle-class citizens;[7][8] Garzón (1910) noted that it had been printed there as masculine by mistake.[7][8]

The modern dictionaries separate the medieval class of merchants, free craftsmen and others not subject to feudal lords from the well-off middle class of today, and record pequeña burguesía for its less wealthy part.[3][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1619 – Cabrera de Córdoba writes of the burgesía of a Flemish town.[2]
  • 1635 – the spelling burguesía in Mascareñas's account of the campaign in Flanders.[2]
  • 1646 – the Estebanillo González, Corominas's first record.[6][5]
  • 1880 – the programme of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party opposes the burguesía to the proletariat.[2]
  • 1899 – the Academy's dictionary records the word.[7]
  • 1973 – la pequeña burguesía in Argentina, the first record in Boyd-Bowman's dictionary.[10]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (history) In the Middle Ages, the social class of merchants, free craftsmen and others not subject to feudal lords.[3][9]
  2. The bourgeoisie, the well-off middle class: La burguesía de la ciudad apoyó la reforma.[3][11][1]
  • burgués
  • burgo
  • French bourgeoisie

Usage notes

Pequeña burguesía is the less wealthy part of the bourgeoisie, the petty bourgeoisie;[3][11] Vox also has alta burguesía for the class of bankers, industrialists and high executives.[3][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. burguesía
  3. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. burguesía
  4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. burguesía
  5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. burgo
  6. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 700
  7. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 160
  8. ^ a b Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 74
  9. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. burguesía
  10. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. burguesía
  11. ^ a b c Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. burguesía
Cite this entry

“Burguesía.” Etymologically, 14 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/es/burgues%C3%ADa. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

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