burgermeester, noun
- Forms:
- Also burgemeester, and with initial capital.
- Origin:
- DutchShow more Adaptation of Dutch burgemeester mayor, magistrate, burg town + euphonic -e- + meester master; the form burger- probably resulted from a misconception among English-speakers that the first element of the term was the Dutch word burgher citizen (of a town). Cf. burgher.
1. a. obsolescent. The mayor of a town. b. In historical contexts. A chief magistrate; also used as a title before a surname.
[1731 G. Medley tr. of P. Kolben’s Present State of Cape of G.H. I. 339Three Regent Burgher-Masters, Magistrates at the Cape, chosen annually out of such as are not in the Company’s Service, come in and assist in the Tryal.]
1920 R.Y. Stormberg Mrs Pieter de Bruyn 19His talk..is..a rambling catalogue of frightful slander against..the Mayor...When last we called, all the burgemeester’s sins were spread out.
2. Special Combinations burgermeester’s chair, also burghermeester’s chair, burgomeester’s chair, burgomaster’s chair: an ornate, round chair with circular arms and back, a caned seat, and six legs.
1960 G.E. Pearse 18th C. Furn. 54Figure 62 shows a wheel chair at Groote Schuur, a type often known as a Burgomaster’s chair. It is circular in plan supported by six curved or cabriole legs...Ball turning occurs in the stretchers or rails which link the legs together, an arrangement resembling the spokes of a wheel, which, no doubt, suggests the name wheel chair...The curved back is supported on four uprights...The seat is caned.
1987 G. Viney Col. Houses 180Amongst the curios which survive here are Lobengula’s seal, a burghermeester’s chair (which makes a surprise reappearance in the library of the Queen’s Dolls’ House).
The mayor of a town.
A chief magistrate; also used as a title before a surname.
Visualise Quotations
Quotation summarySenses
Copyright © 2023 Dictionary Unit for South African English.