burg
UK /bɜːɡ/ · US /bɝɡ/ noun
Forms burgs
- noun (Canada, US) A city or town.
- noun (West Virginia, slang) Martinsburg, West Virginia.
- noun (historical) A fortified town in medieval Europe.
- noun Burgundy wine.
Etymology
The historical sense is from Late Latin burgus, from Frankish *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“borough, fortification”). Doublet of borough, Brough, burgh, burh, and bury. Also compare burgess.
The modern sense may have been formed in part by analogy with the many North American city names that are suffixed with -burg (a number of which in the Eastern United States once used -burgh instead. See burgh), as well as being formed in part due to German Burg.
Clipping of Burgundy.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [AS. burh, burg, cf. LL. burgus. See 1st Borough.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “burg”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details