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bourgeois

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Etymology and origin of the French word bourgeois

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
c. 1100 Chanson de Roland More words from the 11th century
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic *burgz

Pronunciation

Forms

bourgeois (feminine bourgeoise, masculine plural bourgeois, feminine plural bourgeoises)[1] Old French burgeis, borzois, borjois and bourjoi; the form bourgeois, remade after bourg, is recorded in 1393.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is formed from French bourg + -ois as Old French burgeis, an inhabitant of a town.[2][5][6][3][7] Medieval Latin burgensis is recorded earlier, in 1007, for the inhabitants of a free town founded by the Count of Anjou Fulk Nerra around an abbey near Loches.[2][3] Littré and Wiktionary derive the French word from that Latin adjective.[4][1]

The base noun goes back to Late Latin burgus (“fortified place”), borrowed from Germanic *burgs, which merged with Latin burgus (“fort”), a loan from Ancient Greek πύργος (púrgos, “tower”).[6] Cognate with Italian borghese, Occitan borgues, Spanish burgués and Portuguese burguês.[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Chanson de Roland (about 1100) has burgeis for the inhabitant of a town, in the Middle Ages a town freed from feudal justice.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

In the Middle Ages the bourgeois was the inhabitant of a trading town freed by a charter from its lord's control, set apart from the noble on one side and the peasant on the other; the phrase franc bourgeois (13th century) survives in street names.[3][6] From the 13th century the word implied some wealth and the ownership of rights or property in the town.[3]

In the 17th century it lost its link with the town and came to name a member of a social class (1668, La Fontaine), divided into gros bourgeois and petit bourgeois by 1680.[2][3] A pejorative sense, a person without taste or culture, appears in 1635.[2] Among workmen it meant the employer one works for (1680, Richelet).[2] From the Revolution (1793) the bourgeois was opposed to the worker rather than to the noble, and the Romantics set the bourgeois, a symbol of conformism and material success, against the artist.[2][3] After 1968 it became the negative pole of social judgement, sometimes clipped to bourge.[3]

In Swiss French the older sense survives officially: a bourgeois is a citizen of a commune with civic rights, parallel to Swiss German Burger.[3][9] English borrowed the word in the 1560s for the French middle class.[10]

Timeline

  • 1007 – Medieval Latin burgenses is recorded near Loches.[2]
  • c. 1100 – Burgeis appears in the Chanson de Roland.[2]
  • 1280 – The feminine bourgeoise is used of a burgher's wife.[2]
  • 1393 – The spelling bourgeois appears in the Ménagier de Paris.[2]
  • 1418 – Pain bourgeois is recorded for a half-brown bread.[2]
  • 1560s – English borrows the word.[10]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records the adjective “belonging to a bourgeois”.[2]
  • 1635 – First pejorative use for a person without taste.[2][3]
  • 1668 – La Fontaine uses it of a member of the bourgeoisie.[2]
  • 1680 – Richelet records gros bourgeois, petit bourgeois and the workmen's sense “employer”.[2]
  • 1793 – The word is set against the manual worker.[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. (history) In the Middle Ages, a citizen of a town enjoying privileges: les bourgeois de Calais.[11][9][2]
  2. (history) Under the Ancien Régime, a member of the third estate who did not work with his hands and owned property.[11][9]
  3. A member of the middle and ruling class, who does not do manual work.[11][9]
  4. (pejorative) A person with conventional tastes, interested only in material comfort: épater le bourgeois.[9][3]
  5. (Switzerland) A citizen of a commune with civic rights.[9][3]
  6. (dated) Among workmen, the employer.[2][3]

Adjective

  1. Belonging or proper to the bourgeoisie: une famille bourgeoise, les valeurs bourgeoises.[11][2]
  2. (pejorative) Conventional, conformist, fond of comfort.[11][9]
  3. Cuisine bourgeoise: plain, good home cooking.[4][2]

Word family

  • bourgeoisie
  • embourgeoiser
  • petit-bourgeois

Usage notes

Le Bourgeois gentilhomme is the title of Molière's comedy.[9] Littré notes that the final ⟨s⟩ is sounded in liaison: un bourgeois honorable.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 634b
  8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  11. ^ a b c d e Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Bourgeois.” Etymologically, 11 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/bourgeois. Accessed 12 Nov. 2026.

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