bourgeoise
UK[ˌbʊəʒˈwɑːz]US[ˌbʊrʒˈwɑːz]
n
a woman who belongs to the middle class, typically one whose attitudes and behavior are seen as conventional and materialistic.
n
(in marxist contexts) a female member of the property-owning capitalist class.
Morpheme Breakdown
bourgeoi
se
bourgeoi
town dweller
se
feminine suffix
Etymology
the word 'bourgeoise' has its origins in the late latin term 'burgus', meaning a fortified town or fortress. this evolved into the old french 'burgeis', referring to a citizen or freeman of a town, distinct from the peasantry and the nobility. the feminine suffix '-se' was added to specify the female counterpart. over time, particularly through marxist theory, the term shifted from a neutral descriptor of a townswoman to a socio-economic label connoting the property-owning class and its associated conventional values.
Analysis
Structure: bourgeoi (town dweller) + se (feminine suffix)
bourgeoi is derived from old french 'burgeis', meaning a citizen of a town or borough, ultimately from late latin 'burgus' (fortified town). the suffix -se is a french feminine suffix, equivalent to english '-ess', used to denote a female.
Examples
the novel satirizes the life of a 19th-century bourgeoise obsessed with social status.
her political critique focused on the role of the bourgeoise in maintaining capitalist structures.
she rejected the traditional expectations associated with being a bourgeoise.