Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
bourgeon [bur-juh n] SynonymsExamples noun, verb (used with or without object)
burgeon or bour·geon [bur-juhn] verb (used without object)
- to grow or develop quickly; flourish: The town burgeoned into a city. He burgeoned into a fine actor.
- to begin to grow, as a bud; put forth buds, shoots, etc., as a plant (often followed by out, forth).
verb (used with object)
- to put forth, as buds.
noun
- a bud; sprout.
Origin of burgeon 1275–1325; (noun) Middle English burjon, burion shoot, bud Anglo-French burjun, burg(e)on; Old French burjon Vulgar Latin *burriōne(m), accusative of *burriō, derivative of Late Latin burra wool, fluff (cf. bourrée, bureau), presumably from the down covering certain buds; (v.) Middle English burg(e)onen, borgen Anglo-French, Old French, derivative of the nounSynonyms for burgeon 1. bloom, blossom, mushroom, expand.Usage note The two senses of burgeon, “to bud” ( The maples are burgeoning ) and “to grow or flourish” ( The suburbs around the city have been burgeoning under the impact of commercial growth ), date from the 14th century. Today the sense “to grow or flourish” is the more common. Occasionally, objections are raised to the use of this sense, perhaps because of its popularity in journalistic writing. Examples from the Web for bourgeon Historical Examples of bourgeon
My budding Daphne wanted scope To bourgeon all her flowers of hope.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 10, No. 58, August, 1862
Various
These “lisping hawthorn-buds” of fashion only bourgeon in tainted soil.
The Expositor’s Bible: The First Book of Kings
F. W. Farrar
Bourgeon de Mars, enfant de Paris;Si un eschape, il en vaut dix.
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
They keep religion alive, and make it bourgeon and yield the new fruits for which the generations hunger.
The Expositor’s Bible:The Book of Numbers
Robert A. Watson
British Dictionary definitions for bourgeon bourgeon noun, verb
- a variant spelling of burgeon
burgeon bourgeon verb
- (often foll by forth or out) (of a plant) to sprout (buds)
- (intr ; often foll by forth or out) to develop or grow rapidly; flourish
noun
- a bud of a plant
Word Origin for burgeon C13: from Old French burjon, perhaps ultimately from Late Latin burra shaggy cloth; from the downiness of certain buds Word Origin and History for bourgeon burgeon v.
early 14c., “grow, sprout, blossom,” from Anglo-French burjuner, Old French borjoner “to bud, sprout,” from borjon “a bud, shoot, pimple” (Modern French bourgeon), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from Vulgar Latin *burrionem (nominative *burrio), from Late Latin burra “flock of wool,” itself of uncertain origin. Some sources (Kitchin, Gamillscheg) say either the French word or the Vulgar Latin one is from Germanic. The English verb is perhaps instead a native development from burjoin (n.) “a bud” (c.1300), from Old French. Related: Burgeoned; burgeoning.