burglar

English

Etymology

Borrowed from British Medieval Latin burglātor, from Old French burgeor (“burglar”), from Medieval Latin burgātor (“burglar”), from burgō (“to commit burglary”), from Late Latin burgus (“fortified town”), probably from Frankish *burg (“fortress”), from Proto-Germanic *burgz, *burgiją (“borough, watch-tower”). The -l- may have been inserted under influence from Latin latro (“thief”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɜːɡlə(ɹ)/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɝɡlɚ/
Audio (UK) (file)
Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)ɡlə(ɹ)

Noun

burglar (plural burglars)

A person who breaks in to premises with the intent of committing theft
The burglar made off with a large diamond from the museum.

Synonyms

housebreaker

Derived terms

burglar alarm
burglar bar
burglarize, burglarise
burglarous
burglarously
burglary
burgle
cat burglar
cat-burglar
gin burglar
time burglar
turd burglar

Translations

Arabic: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: please add this translation if you can
Azerbaijani: evyaran
Belarusian: узло́мшчык m (uzlómščyk)
Bulgarian: крадец с взлом (kradec s vzlom)
Catalan: lladre (ca) m or f, espanyaportes m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 竊盜／窃盗 (zh) (qièdào), 竊賊／窃贼 (zh) (qièzéi)
Czech: lupič (cs) m
Dutch: inbreker (nl) m, inbreekster (nl) f
Esperanto: domŝtelisto
Finnish: murtovaras (fi)
French: cambrioleur (fr) m, cambrioleuse (fr) f
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: Einbrecher (de) m, Einbrecherin (de) f, Dieb (de) m, Diebin (de), Räuber (de) m, Räuberin (de) f
Greek: διαρρήκτης (el) m (diarríktis), διαρρήκτρια (el) f (diarríktria)
Ancient: τοιχώρυχος m (toikhṓrukhos)
Hebrew: פּוֹרֵץ‎ m (poréts), פּוֹרֶצֶת‎ f (porétset)
Hindi: please add this translation if you can
Hungarian: betörő (hu)
Icelandic: innbrotsþjófur (is) m
Ido: ruptofurtisto, ruptofurtero, domofurtisto (io)
Indonesian: maling (id), pencuri (id)
Irish: buirgléir m
Italian: scassinatore m, scassinatrice f
Japanese: 強盗 (ja) (ごうとう, gōtō), 夜盗 (ja) (やとう, yatō)
Javanese: maling (jv)
Khmer: ចោរ (km) (cao)
Korean: 강도 (ko) (gangdo)
Latin: effractor m, perfossor m
Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
Low German: Inbreker m, Inbrekerin f, Inbrekersch f, Inbrekersche f, Inbräker m, Inbräkerin f, Inbräkersch f, Inbräkersche f
Luxembourgish: Abriecher m
Malay: perompak
Middle English: breker
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Norwegian:
Bokmål: innbruddstyv m, innbruddstjuv m, innbrottstjuv m, innbrottstyv m
Nynorsk: innbrotstjuv m, innbrottstjuv m
Polish: włamywacz (pl) m, włamywaczka f
Portuguese: ladrão (pt) m
Romanian: spărgător (ro) m
Russian: взло́мщик (ru) m (vzlómščik), взло́мщица f (vzlómščica), дому́шник (ru) m (domúšnik), дому́шница (ru) f (domúšnica)
Swedish: inbrottstjuv (sv) c
Thai: โจร (th) (joon), ขโมย (th) (kà-mooi)
Turkish: hırsız (tr)
Tuvan: оор (oor)
Ukrainian: зло́мщик m (zlómščyk)
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
Volapük: (♂♀) nübreikan, (♂) hinübreikan, (♀) jinübreikan
Welsh: torrwr tŷ m; (loosely) lleidr (cy)

Verb

burglar (third-person singular simple present burglars, present participle burglaring, simple past and past participle burglared)

(transitive, intransitive) To commit burglary; to burgle.
- 1901, Emma Orczy, The Robbery in Phillimore Terrace
  The latter, with another constable, remained to watch the burglared premises both back and front, […]