ETYM French.
The French middle class, particularly such as are concerned in, or dependent on, trade.
(French) The middle classes. The French word originally meant “the freemen of a borough”. It came to mean the whole class above the workers and peasants, and below the nobility. “Bourgeoisie” (and “bourgeois”) has also acquired a contemptuous sense, implying commonplace, philistine respectability. By socialists it is applied to the whole propertied class, as distinct from the proletariat.
1. prvobitno: naziv za građanstvo nasuprot višim staležima feudalnog društva (plemstvu i sveštenstvu). S ekonomskim jačanjem buržoazije jača i njen politički položaj: ona ukida feudalno društvo i sama uzima vlast;
2. danas: Sav onaj deo društva koji živi od eksploatacije najamnih randnika i siromašnih radnih seljaka koji deo društva, prema tome čini u ekonomskim odnosima jednu društvenu klasu, kapitalističku, nasuprot radničkoj klasi - proletarijatu.