Definition for BURG'ESS

BURG'ESS, n. [Fr. bourgeois, from bourg, burg.]

  1. An inhabitant of a borough, or walled town; or one who possesses a tenement therein; a citizen or freeman of a borough. – Blackstone.
  2. A representative of a borough in parliament. – Ib.
  3. A magistrate of certain towns. – Encyc.
  4. Before the revolution, the representatives in the popular branch of the legislature of Virginia were called burgesses, as the House of Burgesses. It is now called the House of Delegates.

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