1560s, "freeman of a burgh," from Middle Dutch burgher or German Bürger, from Middle High German burger, from Old High German burgari, literally "inhabitant of a fortress," from burg "fortress, citadel" (from PIE root *bhergh- (2) "high," with derivatives referring to hills and hill-forts). Burgh, as a native variant of borough, persists in Scottish English (as in Edinburgh) and in Pittsburgh.
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