burgher
/ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/
"burgher" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“burgher” is an uncommon English word, ranked #81,190 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #81,190
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | burgher |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #81,190 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “burgher” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for burgher is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #81,190 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for burgher, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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 burgār… The correct English form is burgher, spelled B-U-R-G-H-E-R.
Definition
- 1A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.
- 2A citizen of a borough or town, especially one belonging to the middle class.
- 3A prosperous member of the community; a middle-class citizen (may connote complacency).
Etymology
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.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “burgher”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-U-R-G-H-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.