"B" Word Origins

burgery

Origin

Probably from Latin burgāria. By surface analysis, burg + -ery.

burgess

Germanic

From Anglo-Norman burgeis, related to "borough" and "bourgeois", ultimately from a Germanic word for a fortified town.

burgher

Origin

From Middle English burger, burgher, burghere, equivalent to burgh + -er (“inhabitant of”). Likely merged with and reinforced by Middle Dutch burgher (Modern Dutch: burger); from Middle High German burger (Modern German: Bürger); from Old High German burgāri (“inhabitant of a fortress”); derivative of burg (“fortress, citadel”), from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“fortified elevation”). Compare also Old English burgwaras (“inhabitants of a burg, burghers, citizens”) and Serbo-Croatian purger. More at borough.

burglar

Late Latin

From Medieval Latin burglator, related to Late Latin burgus ("fortified town") — an extra "l" crept in, likely influenced by Latin latro ("thief").

burglarproof

Origin

From burglar + -proof.

burglary

New Latin

From New Latin burglaria, built on "burglar" plus the noun ending "-y".

burgle

Origin

Back-formation from burglar (1867).

burgomaster

Origin

Partial calque of Dutch burgemeester with master. Compare also boroughmaster.

burgoo

Origin

Of unclear origin. Apparently from the dialectal term burgood (“yeast”). * Perhaps ultimately from Welsh burym (“yeast”) + cawl (“cabbage, gruel”), * Or perhaps from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul). * Or, from an alteration of ragout.

Burgos

Origin

Uncertain, possibly borrowed from Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃 (baurgs, “walled city”).

burgrave

Origin

From German Burggraf, from Burg (“castle”) + Graf (“count”). Compare Dutch burggraaf, French burgrave. See margrave.

burgundy

Origin

The color sense comes from the deep red wine produced in the Burgundy region of France.

burial

Old English

From an Old English word related to "bury", though its ending was originally misread as a plural and reshaped into today's form.

burin

Origin

Likely derived from Basque buru (“head”), referring here to a headland or promontory.

burk

Origin

A variant spelling of the surname "Burke," used informally as slang for vomiting.

burka

Russian

Borrowed from Russian búrka; the earlier origin of the word is disputed.

burke

Origin · 1800

Named after William Burke, a 19th-century Edinburgh murderer who killed victims to sell their bodies to medical schools.

burlap

Dutch

Origin uncertain, but possibly related to a coarse woolen cloth called "burel" combined with "lap" (a flap of cloth); a Dutch origin has also been suggested.

burlesque

Italian

From Italian burlesco, from burla 'joke, mockery, jest', which entered English through French burlesque in the seventeenth century.

burly

Old English

From Middle English burly/burlich, meaning "tall, stately" — likely tracing back to Old English roots meaning "noble" or "raised, high," though its exact origin is debated.

Burma

Origin

Borrowed into British English from Burmese ဗမာ (bama), a colloquial form of မြန်မာ (Myanmar).

Burmese

Chinese

Formed from "Burma" plus the suffix "-ese," which English uses to form adjectives and demonyms for countries (compare "Japanese," "Chinese").

burn

Old English

From Old English forms (bærnan, byrnan) going back to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to burn" — a distant relative of the word "brew."

burned

Middle English

The past tense is inherited from Middle English burnede. The past participle (from which the adjective is also derived) is inherited from Middle English burned. Synchronically, both forms are equivalent to burn + -ed.

Burner

Origin

From burn + -er. Merged with and eclipsed related Middle English brennar, brennere (“an incendiary, incinerator”). Compare German Brenner (“burner”), Swedish brännare (“burner”).

burnet

Origin

From Middle English burnet, from Old French brunet, brunete (“brunette”). Doublet of brunette.

Burnham

Old English

From Old English burna ("stream") + hām ("homestead").

burning

Origin

By surface analysis, burn + -ing.

burnish

Origin

The verb is derived from Middle English burnishen, burnysshen (“to polish, burnish; (figuratively) to brighten, give lustre to; to clean (something) until shiny; to decorate (with something shiny), adorn”) [and other forms], from burniss-, a stem of Old French burnir (compare, for example, the first-person present singular indicative form burnis), a variant of brunir (“to make clean and shiny, polish; to make brown”) (modern French brunir), from Frankish *brūnijan (“to polish, make resplendent”), from Proto-Germanic *brūnijaną (“to decorate; tan”), from Proto-Germanic *brūnaz (“brown”, adjective), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”, adjective). Unrelated to burn. The noun is derived from the verb.

burnout

Origin

Deverbal from burn out.

Burns

Irish

As a Scottish surname, from places containing burn ("stream"); as an Irish surname, Anglicized from Ó Broin.

Burnside

Origin

Named after Union General Ambrose Burnside, famous for this facial-hair style; his surname was later reshuffled into the more common word "sideburns."

burnt

Middle English

Inherited from Middle English brent, brynt; by surface analysis, burn + t.

burp

Origin

An American English word imitating the sound itself.

burqa

Origin

Borrowed from Hindustani (Hindi बुरक़ा (burqā) / Urdu بُرْقَع (burqa')), from Classical Persian بُرْقَع (burqa'), from Arabic بُرْقُع (burquʕ).

burr

Old English

From Middle English "burre," possibly related to an Old English word for "bristle."

burrito

Spanish

From Spanish "burrito," literally "little donkey" — a diminutive of "burro." The name may come from the dish's resemblance to a rolled pack carried by a donkey.

burro

Spanish

Borrowed directly from Spanish "burro," meaning donkey.

Burroughs

Old English

From Old English beorg ("hill") or burg ("fort").

burrow

Middle English

From Middle English words for a "refuge for an animal," ultimately related to "borough" and "bury" — all connected to the idea of a protected, dug-out shelter.

bursa

Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursa (“purse”), from Ancient Greek βύρσα (búrsa); compare purse and bourse, which are doublets.

bursar

Medieval Latin

From Medieval Latin "bursarius," related to "bursa" ("purse") — the same root as the English word "purse."

bursary

Origin

Borrowed from Medieval Latin bursaria, from bursarius.

burslem

Origin

From Old English Burgweard (“a personal name”) + -s- + Proto-Celtic *limos (“elm”).

burst

Old English

From Old English "berstan," tracing back to a Proto-Germanic and Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to burst, break, or split."

burthen

Origin

Old form of burden. Compare similar development in murder.

burton

Old English

Usually from Old English burhtun (fortified farmstead, farmstead near or belonging to a stronghold or manor), from burh + tun.

bury

Old English

From Old English "byrgan," itself from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to keep safe" — ultimately connected to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to protect."