Definition of "burgess" [bur•gess]

• A freeman or citizen of an English borough. (noun)
• A member of the English Parliament who once represented a town, borough, or university. (noun)
• A member of the lower house of the legislature of colonial Virginia or Maryland. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "A middle class arose, comprised of bankers, merchants and craftsman, and was known as the "burgess" in England, the "bourgeoisie" in France, and the "burgher" in Germany."
• "_ Virginia), a "burgess" was a member of the legislative body, which was termed the "House of Burgesses.""
• "The third son of Walter and Isobel Peirson, Alexander Peirson, represented Edinburgh in the Convention of Estates at Holyrood House, in 1602, and in the Scottish Parliament of 1608, having been since 1586 a merchant burgess of Edinburgh."