▪ I. burglar, n.
(ˈbɜːglə(r))
Also 6 burglour, burghlar, burgleyer, 7 burglare, -layer.
[Found in AFr. in 16th c.: ad. Anglo-Lat. burglator (13th c.), burgulator (16th c.), altered form of burgator (13th c.), perhaps f. the first element of burgh-breche, the native Eng. term for burglary. The Anglo-Lat. verb burgulare (quasi ‘to burgle’) is recorded in 1354 (Assis. 27 Edw. III, quoted in Reeves Hist. Eng. Law ed. Finlason II. 419). The 13th c. AF. word for ‘burglar’, burgesour, burgeysour, is of obscure formation, but of the same ultimate origin. The related burglary is in legal AF. burglarie, in Anglo-Lat. burgaria, burgeria (early 13th c.), for which burglaria is found in 16th c. The origin of the intrusive l, in burglator, burglaria, and the corresponding Eng. forms, is not clear; but the notion of Lambarde (1581) and later writers that the ending -lar represents AF. ler-s, laroun (:—L. ˈlatro, laˈtrōnem) thief, is contrary to the evidence. A ‘burglator’ or ‘burgesour’ was not necessarily a ‘latro’; his object might be something else than plunder.
No corresponding words are known in continental OF. or med.L.; the rare OF. burger ‘saccager, piller’ (Godef.), occurring in Garnier's Vie de Saint Thomas, is unconnected, unless perhaps this sense of the word may be due to AF. influence.]
1. One who is guilty of burglary.
| [a 1268 Bracton De Legibus (Rolls ed.) II. 234 fo. 115 b, Murdritores & robbatores & burglatores. c 1287 Fleta i. xvi. (ed. 1685 p. 15) Tempus autem discernit prædonem a fure & a Burgatore. 1292 Britton i. xi, De Burgeysours...Tenoms a burgesours trestouz ceux, qi felounousement en tens de pes brusent eglises, ou autri mesouns, ou murs ou portes de nos citez ou de nos burgs. 1516 in Fitzherbert Graunde Abridgement 268 b, Burglers sont ceux que entrent mesons ou eglises al entent de inbloier beins.] 1541 tr. Fitzherbert's New Bk. Justyces 125 b, Burglours are properly such as felonously in y⊇ tyme of peace breke any house, church, etc. 1581 Lambarde Eiren. i. xxi. 221 A Burglour whom Britton calleth a Burgessor..that by night breaketh into a house, wyth intent to Robbe, Kill or doe other Felonie [ed. 1582 has burglour, burglar; 1588 burghlar passim]. 1599 Broughton's Lett. v. 15 In Moses law he that had slaine a Burgleyer by night had been guiltles. 1603 Florio Montaigne ii. xv. 358 A common burglayer will passe by quietly things that lie open. 1682 Lond. Gaz. No. 1768/4 This day were apprehended..two persons suspected to be notorious Burglars and Robbers. 1769 Blackstone Comm. IV. 224 The definition of a burglar, as given us by sir Edward Coke, is, ‘he that by night breaketh and entreth into a mansion-house, with intent to commit a felony’. 1860 G. K. Vacat. Tour 140 Still the thing looks well, and might..prevent a particularly conscientious burglar from breaking in. |
2. Comb., as burglar-alarm, burglar-season; also burglar-proof adj., also attrib.
| 1840 in M. D. Leggett Index Pat. Inventions (1874) 173 *Burglar-alarm, L. E. Denison, Saybrook, Conn., Oct. 22, 1840, 1,835. 1877 Telegraphic Jrnl. V. 19/1 The application of the magneto-electric current for..burglar alarms. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 93/2 Bells, Burglar Alarms, Lightning Conductors. 1889 Cent. Dict., Burglar-alarm lock, a lock having an attachment which when set will sound an alarm if the bolt is improperly moved. 1963 B.S.I. News Apr. 10/1 Bad news for burglars is BSI's decision to give burglar alarm systems some close attention. |
| 1856 Spirit of Times 13 Dec. 247/3 Manufacturers of..*Burglar Proof Safes for stores and dwelling houses. 1882 Daily News 24 May 7/6 Stock of second-hand Fire-and-Burglar-proof Safes. |
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 4 Sept. 3/2 The *burglar season has set in. |
▪ II. burglar, v.
(ˈbɜːglə(r))
[f. the n.]
a. trans. To steal (goods) or rob (a place) as a burglar. b. intr. To commit a burglary. Cf. burgle v. Hence ˈburglared, ˈburglaring ppl. adjs.
| 1890 M. W. Hungerford Born Coquette II. xiii. 128 He certainly burglared Nan. He broke into the house..and stole her away. 1890 Mercury (Tasmania) 27 Dec., A news agency..was burglared yesterday morning. 1896 ‘Mark Twain’ in Harper's Mag. Aug. 345/2 They used to hear about him robbing and burglaring now and then. 1909 Daily Chron. 31 Aug. 1/2 ‘Raffles’ remains a more endeared and far more possible character than the burglaring ‘Duke’. 1919 W. T. Grenfell Labrador Doctor (1920) iv. 76 He..got alarmed when busy burglaring. 1928 Sunday Dispatch 22 July 12/4 The burglared shop. |