burgus

First attested in the early second century CE, of uncertain provenance: It is no doubt a borrowing, but it could be from Proto-West Germanic *burg, Ancient Greekπύργος (púrgos), or rather a lost Balkan cognate: it is a word that travelled far, even to earliest Arabic as بُرْج (burj). The forest of Teutoburg appears mentioned as early as Tacitus (Annales, I, 60: “Teutoburgiensis saltus”), who describes the events that occurred more than half a century earlier (9 CE).

Noun

burgus m (genitive burgī); second declension

1. (Late Latin, originally) A fort or castle, especially a smaller one; a watchtower.
2. (Late Latin, generally) A fortified town; a walled town.
3. (Medieval Latin) A borough: a town specially incorporated and with special rights.

Declension

Second-declension noun.

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	burgus	burgī
Genitive	burgī	burgōrum
Dative	burgō	burgīs
Accusative	burgum	burgōs
Ablative	burgō	burgīs
Vocative	burge	burgī

Derived terms

• burgāre
  • ⇒ Medieval Latin: burgātor
    • Old French: burgeor
      • → Medieval Latin: burglātor (British)
        • → Middle English: burgulator
          • ⇒ Middle English: burglar
            • English: burglar
• burgēnsis
• firma burgi