资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Burgess \Bur"gess\, n. [OE. burgeis, OF. burgeis, fr.
   burcfortified town, town, F. bourg village, fr. LL. burgus
   fort, city; from the German; cf. MHG. burc, G. burg. See 1st
   {Borough}, and cf. 2d {Bourgeois}.]
   1. An inhabitant of a borough or walled town, or one who
      possesses a tenement therein; a citizen or freeman of a
      borough. --Blackstone.

   Note: ``A burgess of a borough corresponds with a citizen of
         a city.'' --Burrill.

   2. One who represents a borough in Parliament.

   3. A magistrate of a borough.

   4. An inhabitant of a Scotch burgh qualified to vote for
      municipal officers.

   Note: Before the Revolution, the representatives in the
         popular branch of the legislature of Virginia were
         called burgesses; they are now called delegates.

   {Burgess oath}. See {Burgher}, 2.