bourgeois

• burgeois

Unadapted borrowing from French bourgeois (“a class of citizens who were wealthier members of the Third Estate”), from Old French burgeis (“town dweller”), from Frankish *burg, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold; city”) (whence borough). Doublet of burgess; compare also burgish.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɔːʒ.wɑː/, /ˈbʊəʒ.wɑː/

  • Audio (UK); /ˈbɔːʒ.wɑː/:

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /bʊɹʒˈwɑː/, /ˈbʊɹʒ.wɑː/, /bʊʒˈwɑː/, /ˈbʊʒ.wɑː/

  • Audio (US); /bʊʒˈwɑː/:

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• Audio (General Australian):

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• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)ʒwɑː, -ʊə(ɹ)ʒwɑː, -ɑː

bourgeois (comparative more bourgeois, superlative most bourgeois)

1. Of or relating to the middle class (often derogatory), and their presumed overly conventional, conservative, and materialistic values.

   bourgeois opinion

   • 2010 February 5, Mike Marqusee, “Flamenco's humane roots”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     It's impossible to tell the story of flamenco without talking about Lorca, who found in it a source of inspiration in a lifelong political-cultural-sexual struggle against bourgeois philistinism.

   • 2023, Clive Young, “chapter three: From Union to Devolution”, in Unlocking Scots: The Secret Life of the Scots Language, Edinburgh: Luath Press Limited, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 74:

     The increasing social interactions between the two nations through religion, court and commerce would expose differences in speech too and would soon deepen bourgeois Scots’ deteriorating perception of their own tongue.

2. (historical) Of or relating to the bourgeoisie, the third estate of the French Ancien Regime.
3. (Marxism) Of or relating to the capitalist class, (usually derogatory) the capitalist exploitation of the proletariat.

• (conventional, conservative): square

• → Malay: borjuis

bourgeois (usually uncountable, plural bourgeois)

1. (politics, collectively, usually in the plural) The middle class.
2. (rare) An individual member of the middle class.
3. (usually derogatory) A person of any class with bourgeois (i.e., overly conventional and materialistic) values and attitudes.
4. (history) An individual member of the bourgeoisie, the third estate of the French Ancien Regime.
5. (Marxism) A capitalist, (usually derogatory) an exploiter of the proletariat.
   • 1977 [1848], Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (Marx-Engels-Werke; 4), page 478; English translation from Samuel Moore, transl., Manifesto of the Communist Party (Marx/Engels Collected Works; 6), translation of original in German, 1976 [1888], page 502:

     The bourgeois sees in his wife a mere instrument of production. He hears that the instruments of production are to be exploited in common, and, naturally, can come to no other conclusion than that the lot of being common to all will likewise fall to the women.

     [original: Der Bourgeois sieht in seiner Frau ein bloßes Produktionsinstrument. Er hört, daß die Produktionsinstrumente gemeinschaftlich ausgebeutet werden sollen, und kann sich natürlich nichts anderes denken, als daß das Los der Gemeinschaftlichkeit die Weiber gleichfalls treffen wird.]

   • 1967 [1894], Владимир Ленин [Vladimir Lenin], “Выпуск I”, in Что такое «друзья народа» и как они воюют против социал-демократов? (В. И. Ленин – Полное собрание сочинений; 1), page 153; English translation from “Part I”, in What the “Friends of the People” Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats (V. I. Lenin – Collected Works; 1), translation of original in Russian, 1977, page 154:

     Nothing is more characteristic of the bourgeois than the application of the features of the modern system to all times and peoples.

     [original: Нет ничего характернее для буржуа, как перенесение черт современных порядков на все времена и народы.]

     Net ničevo xarakterneje dlja buržua, kak perenesenije čert sovremennyx porjadkov na vse vremena i narody.

bourgeois (third-person singular simple present bourgeoises, present participle bourgeoising, simple past and past participle bourgeoised)

1. (transitive) To make bourgeois.

• Raymond Williams (1983), “Bourgeois”, in Keywords: A Vocabulary of Culture and Society, revised American edition, New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, published 1985, →ISBN, page 45

From Middle English burjois, from French Bourgois, probably from Bourges (a city in France) + -ois (forming adjectives) but possibly from bourgeois above or after Jean de Bourgeois who worked as a printer in Rouen c. 1500.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /bəːˈdʒɔɪs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /bəɹˈd͡ʒɔɪs/, enPR: bər-ʹjois
• Rhymes: -ɔɪs

bourgeois (uncountable)

1. (printing, dated) A size of type between brevier and long primer, standardized as 9-point.

• (Continental printing): galliard

• double bourgeois

Borrowed from French bourgeois.

• IPA^(key): /burˈʒʋaː/

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• Hyphenation: bour‧geois
• Rhymes: -aː

bourgeois m (plural bourgeois, diminutive bourgeoistje n)

1. bourgeois

• bourgeoisie
• burgerij

• → Indonesian: borjuis

Inherited from Middle French bourgois, from Old French borgeis (“town dweller”), from borc (“fortified place, town”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“fortress”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰs (“fortified elevation”).

The path from Proto-Germanic to Old French is unclear. Perhaps via Frankish *burg or Late Latin burgus, or possibly both, and probably through the Late Latin intermediate burgensis. Compare Italian borghese, Portuguese burguês, Spanish burgués.

By surface analysis, bourg +‎ -ois.

• IPA^(key): /buʁ.ʒwa/

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• Audio (France (Somain)):

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bourgeois (feminine bourgeoise, masculine plural bourgeois, feminine plural bourgeoises)

1. bourgeois

• bourgeoisement
• embourgeoiser

bourgeois m (invariable, feminine bourgeoise)

1. A member of the middle class
   • 1680, Molière, “Acte IV, Scene V”, in Le Bourgeois gentilhomme [The Middle-Class Aristocrat]‎^[2], page 89:

     Le Mufti commande aux Turcs de baſtonner le Bourgeois, […]

     The mufti orders the Turks to batter the bourgeois, […]

2. bourgeois
3. (archaic) an inhabitant of a town or city
4. (archaic) someone who belongs to neither the aristocratic, clerical, nor military classes

• bourge (slang)

• bourgeoisie
• parloir aux bourgeois

• “bourgeois”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012

Borrowed from French bourgeois, name for a wealthy class of French citizens in the late 18th century.

• IPA^(key): /bʊrˈʒu̯aː/, [bʊʁˈʒʋaː], [ˌbʊʁ.ʒuˈaː], [bʊɐ̯-] (standard; basic form)
• IPA^(key): /bʊrˈʒu̯aːz-/ (standard; inflected forms)
• IPA^(key): /bʊrˈʃu̯aː(s-)/ (often in southern Germany, Austria, Switzerland)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

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bourgeois (strong nominative masculine singular bourgeoiser, comparative bourgeoiser, superlative am bourgeoisesten)

1. bourgeois
2. snobbish, elitist (in the context of the upper middle class)

• Bourgeoisie
• bürgerlich
• proletarisch

• “bourgeois” in Duden online
• “bourgeois” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache