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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

burglar.

A person who breaks in to premises with the intent of committing a crime, usually theft.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈbɜːɡlə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɝɡlɚ/General-American

  1. A person who breaks in to premises with the intent of committing a crime, usually theft.

    The burglar made off with a large diamond from the museum.
Where this word comes from

16th century, from Medieval Latin burglātor, British byform of burgātor (“burglar”), derived from burgō (“to commit burglary”), from Late Latin burgus (“fortified town”), itself probably from Frankish *burg (“fortress”), from Proto-Germanic *burgz, *burgiją (“borough, watch-tower”). The -l- in burglātor may have been inserted under influence from Latin latro (“thief”). The shortened English form may have arisen through confluence with Old French burgeor (“burglar”), itself from the same Latin source.

verb/ˈbɜːɡlə(ɹ)/Received-Pronunciation/ˈbɝɡlɚ/General-American

  1. To commit burglary.

    ambitransitive
Where this word comes from

16th century, from Medieval Latin burglātor, British byform of burgātor (“burglar”), derived from burgō (“to commit burglary”), from Late Latin burgus (“fortified town”), itself probably from Frankish *burg (“fortress”), from Proto-Germanic *burgz, *burgiją (“borough, watch-tower”). The -l- in burglātor may have been inserted under influence from Latin latro (“thief”). The shortened English form may have arisen through confluence with Old French burgeor (“burglar”), itself from the same Latin source.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.