Part of Speech: verb
Pronunciation: [‘bêr-jên]
Definition: To bud, sprout, to begin to grow or blossom; to grow and flourish.
Usage: Of course everything in your garden burgeons in the spring. But other things burgeon in other gardens, too, "He was as yet unaware of the tenderness
for her already burgeoning in him after their first encounter." Today’s word may also be used by analogy with items that resemble buds, "A painful corn now burgeoned on her foot from constantly wearing her daughter’s shoes."
Suggested Usage: The media are fraying today’s word a bit about the edges; it may be time to cast our attention its way. Expressions like "the burgeoning Enron scandal" is something of an understatement. Even if we say that Enron was a garden where unrequited felony burgeoned with abandon, we ignore the fact that much of it came to full bloom. A burgeon is a bud, well, maybe a pimple, but even this pejorative noun flagrantly understates the explosion of the Enron scandal.
Etymology: Middle English "burgeonen" from Old French "borjoner," the verb from the noun burjon "a bud." This noun descended from the Vulgar Latin *burrio, burrion which came from Late Latin burra "a shaggy garment." Today’s word is unrelated to "burro," a Spanish back-formation from borrico "donkey," a descendant of Late Latin burricus "small horse." (We can only hope that a sense of gratitude is burgeoning in all our breasts for Terry Light, author of 'Shades of Meaning' at http://www.shadesofmeaning.com and the source of today’s word.)
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