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-. Compare Old High German burjan, burien, burren (“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

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɜː.d͡ʒən/
• (US) 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

• Belarusian: парастак m (parastak)
• Catalan: brot (ca) m, lluc m, borró m, botó (ca) m, ull (ca) m
• Esperanto: burĝono
• French: bourgeon (fr) m
• Hindi: कली (hi) (kalī)
• Russian: росток (ru) m (rostok)
• Spanish: brote (es) m, retoño (es) m
• Swedish: knopp (sv) c
• Ukrainian: брунька (uk) f (brunʹka), паросток m (parostok), пуп'янок m (pupʺjanok)

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)
• Catalan: brotar (ca), rebrotar (ca), créixer (ca)
• Czech: růst (cs) impf, rozrůstat se impf, vzkvétat impf, rozvíjet se impf
• Dutch: uitgroeien (nl), opbloeien (nl)
• Finnish: kasvaa (fi), kukoistaa (fi)
• French: croître (fr)
• German: sprießen (de)
• Hindi: तेजी से बढ़ना या फेलना (tejī se baṛhnā yā phelnā)
• Polish: rozkwitać (pl)
• Portuguese: desabrochar (pt)
• Russian: разрастаться (ru) (razrastatʹsja)
• Spanish: medrar (es) (plant or animal)
• Swedish: spira (sv)
• Ukrainian: розростатися (rozrostatysja)

to swell to the point of bursting

• Finnish: paisua (fi)
• French: bourgeonner (fr)
• Polish: pęcznieć (pl)
• Russian: наливаться (ru) (nalivatʹsja)

of plants, to bloom, bud

• Bulgarian: цъфтя (bg) (cǎftja)
• Czech: kvést (cs) impf, rašit (cs) impf
• Dutch: bloeien (nl)
• Finnish: kukoistaa (fi)
• French: fleurir (fr), bourgeonner (fr)
• German: sprießen (de)
• Polish: pączkować (pl), rozkwitać (pl)
• Romanian: înmuguri (ro), înflori (ro)
• Russian: распускаться (ru) (raspuskatʹsja)
• Spanish: florecer (es), retoñar (es)
• Swedish: knoppas (sv), spira (sv)
• Ukrainian: розпускатися (rozpuskatysja), розцвітати (rozcvitaty)