borghesia

bourgeoisie

noun bor-geh-ZEE-ah Rare

Origin: French bourgeoisie, from bourgeois (town-dweller), from Old French borc (town), of Germanic origin.

Also means

middle class

Usage Note

Borghesia is feminine: la borghesia, no plural in common use. In Italian it carries both a sociological sense (the middle class) and a Marxist-inflected connotation of conservative, property-owning values. Alta borghesia refers to the upper-middle class and piccola borghesia to the lower-middle class. The adjective borghese can mean 'middle-class' or, in military contexts, 'in plain clothes' (in borghese).

Examples

"La borghesia ha guidato la rivoluzione industriale."

Natural Translation

The bourgeoisie led the industrial revolution.

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