bur·gess 
(bûrjĭs)
(bûrjĭs)n.
1. A freeman or citizen of an English borough.
2. A member of the English Parliament who once represented a town, borough, or university.
3. A member of the lower house of the legislature of colonial Virginia or Maryland.
[Middle English burgeis, from Old French, from Late Latin burgēnsis, from burgus, fortified town; see bhergh-2 in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]