burgeon

English

WOTD – 24 February 2008

Etymology

From Middle English burjon, burioun (“shoot, bud”), from Anglo-Norman burjun, burgeon, burgon (compare Old French burjon (“a bud”)), from Old Frankish *burjo (“sprout, offshoot, descendant”), from Proto-Germanic *burjô (“sprout, descendant, offshoot”), from Proto-Germanic *burjaną (“to raise up”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer-, *bʰrē- (“to bear”). Compare Old High German burjan (“to push up, raise”), Old English byrian (“to come up, occur”), Old English byre (“child, son, descendant”), Albanian buron (“sprout, spring, gush out”). More at bear.

Alternate etymology derives Old French burjon (“bud”) from Vulgar Latin *burrionem, accusative of *burrio, from Late Latin burra (“wool, fluff”) (presumably from the down covering certain buds).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɜː.d͡ʒən/
• IPA^(key): /ˈbɝː.d͡ʒən/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)dʒən

Noun

burgeon (plural burgeons)

1. (obsolete) A bud, sprout, shoot.

Translations

bud, sprout, shoot

• Swedish: knopp (sv) c
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Verb

burgeon (third-person singular simple present burgeons, present participle burgeoning, simple past and past participle burgeoned)

1. (intransitive) To grow or expand.

   Gradually, the town burgeoned into a thriving city.

   Synonyms: blossom, expand, grow, sprout

2. (intransitive) To swell to the point of bursting.
3. (intransitive, archaic) Of plants, to bloom, bud.

   Synonyms: blossom, bud, green, sprout

Derived terms

• burgeoning

Translations

to grow or expand

• Bulgarian: процъфтявам (bg) (procǎftjavam)
• Dutch: uitgroeien (nl), opbloeien (nl)
• Finnish: kasvaa (fi), kukoistaa (fi)
• German: sprießen (de)
• Polish: rozkwitać (pl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: desabrochar (pt)
• Spanish: medrar (es) (plant or animal)
• Swedish: spira (sv)

to swell to the point of bursting

• Finnish: paisua (fi)
• Polish: pęcznieć (pl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: бушева́ть (ru) (buševátʹ)

of plants, to bloom, bud

• Bulgarian: цъфтя (bg) (cǎftja)
• Dutch: bloeien (nl)
• Finnish: kukoistaa (fi)
• French: fleurir (fr)
• German: sprießen (de)
• Polish: pączkować (pl), rozkwitać (pl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Romanian: înmuguri (ro), înflori (ro)
• Spanish: florecer (es), retoñar (es)
• Swedish: knoppas (sv), spira (sv)