bourgeois English · revision 956

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɔːʒ.wɑː/, /ˈbʊəʒ.wɑː/ ''(UK)''; /bʊɹʒˈwɑː/, /ˈbʊɹʒ.wɑː/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|bourgeois]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from Old French ''burgeis'', ''borjois'' “town dweller”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from ''borc'' “town”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) from [[la-lat|burgus|t=fortress]], influenced by Germanic words such as [[frk|*burg]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It is a doublet of [[burgess]].^(RHWU)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As an adjective, of or belonging to the French middle class (1564–65).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a noun the word first meant a French citizen or freeman of a town, as distinct from a peasant or a gentleman (before 1674).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) It was extended to tradespeople of middle rank in other nations,^(Etymonline) and from 1764 to people of conventional middle-class manners and taste.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In communist and socialist writing a ''bourgeois'' is a capitalist, an exploiter of the [[proletariat]] (1883).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) ''[[Bourgeoisie]]'' dates from 1707.^(Barnhart 1995) A separate ''bourgeois'' (1824), pronounced differently, is a size of printing type.^(OED 1989)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1564–65 – adjective, of the French middle class.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * before 1674 – noun, a French townsman.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1707 – ''bourgeoisie''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1764 – conventional, middle-class in taste.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1883 – a capitalist, in socialist writing.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A member of the middle class.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A person whose attitudes are marked by conformity to middle-class conventions and material values.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(Marxism)'' A member of the property-owning class; a [[capitalist]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of, relating to or typical of the middle class.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Preoccupied with respectability and material values; conventional.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Dominated by commercial and industrial interests; capitalistic.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[embourgeoisement]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[bourgeoise]]

+ * [[bourgeoisie]]

+ * [[petit bourgeois]]

+ * [[burgess]]

+ * [[borough]]

+ * [[burgher]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}