'burgher' originates from Middle English, ultimately borrowed from Middle Dutch or Middle High German (e.g. Middle Dutch 'borger', Middle High German 'burger'), where 'burg/borc' meant 'fortified town' or 'borough'.

'burgher' developed from Middle Dutch/Middle High German words for an inhabitant of a 'burg' (fortified town); the idea is related to Old French 'burgeis' and later English forms such as Middle English 'burger'/'burgere', eventually stabilizing as modern English 'burgher'.

Initially it meant 'an inhabitant of a fortified town' (a town-dweller with municipal rights); over time it came to connote specifically a town citizen often of the merchant or bourgeois class ('member of the bourgeoisie').