burglar
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Borrowed from British Medieval Latin burglātor, from Old French burgeor (“burglar”), from Medieval Latin burgātor (“burglar”), from burgō (“to commit burglary”), from Late Latin burgus (“fortified town”), probably from Frankish *burg (“fortress”), from Proto-Germanic *burgz, *burgiją (“borough, watch-tower”). The -l- may have been inserted under influence from Latin latro (“thief”).
Pronunciation
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈbɜːɡlə(ɹ)/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈbɝɡlɚ/
Audio (Southern England): (file) - Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ɡlə(ɹ)
Noun
[edit]burglar (plural burglars)
- A person who breaks in to premises with the intent of committing theft.
- The burglar made off with a large diamond from the museum.
- 2010, Louis De Bernières, Notwithstanding, →ISBN, page 82:
- In the village itself his lionheartedness had been a legend ever since he had brained a burglar with a number seven iron, and the jury in Guildford had, despite the clear direction of the judge, resolutely declined to convict him for the use of unnecessary force.
- 2017 June 23, Max Byrd, “A Trip to Southern Italy to Shed Light on a Family Scandal”, in The New York Times[1]:
- There’s good reason to worry. In an earlier memoir, “Five-Finger Discount,” Stapinski recreated the terrifying world of swindlers, embezzlers, burglars and mobster wannabes who made up her extended Jersey City family.
Synonyms
[edit]- burglarizer (rare)
- housebreaker
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]Translations
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Verb
[edit]burglar (third-person singular simple present burglars, present participle burglaring, simple past and past participle burglared)
- (transitive, intransitive) To commit burglary; to burgle.
- 1901, Emma Orczy, The Robbery in Phillimore Terrace:
- The latter, with another constable, remained to watch the burglared premises both back and front, […]
See also
[edit]Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰerǵʰ-
- English terms borrowed from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Medieval Latin
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Late Latin
- English terms derived from Frankish
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ɡlə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɜː(ɹ)ɡlə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English intransitive verbs
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