burgeon English · revision 1603

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɜː.d͡ʒən/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbɝː.d͡ʒən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|burjonen]],^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD) [[der|xno|burjuner]] and [[fro|borjoner|t=to bud, sprout]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from ''borjon'' “bud, shoot”,^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) a word of uncertain origin.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) It is perhaps [[der|la-vul|*burriō]], from [[la-lat|burra|t=flock of wool, shaggy cloth]],^(AHD)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) presumably from the down covering certain buds.^(RHWU) Some scholars derive the French word from Germanic instead.^(Etymonline) Barnhart and Etymonline note that the English verb may have been formed from the earlier noun ''burjoin'' “bud”.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To bud or sprout; to begin to grow (about 1325).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Both senses, “to bud” and “to grow or flourish”, date from the 14th century.^(RHWU)^(OED 1989) According to the OED, as quoted by Etymonline, the verb died out by the 18th century except as a gardening term and was revived in poetry in the early 19th.^(Etymonline) Today the sense “to grow and flourish” is the more common.^(RHWU)^(AHD)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1300 – noun, a bud or shoot.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * about 1325 – verb, to bud or sprout.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1382 – figurative, to burst forth, flourish.^(OED 1989)

+ * 18th century – largely out of use except in gardening.^(Etymonline)

+ * early 19th century – revived in poetry.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To put out new [[bud|alt=buds]], leaves or shoots; to [[sprout]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To grow and expand quickly; to [[flourish]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A bud or sprout.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bourgeon]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House notes that the sense “to grow or flourish” sometimes draws objections, perhaps because of its popularity in journalism, although it is as old as the sense “to bud”.^(RHWU) The American Heritage Usage Panel's acceptance of ''the burgeoning population'' rose from 49 percent in 1969 to 74 percent, but only 29 percent accepted ''the public's appetite for them has burgeoned''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}