burian

English

Alternative forms

• burien, berien

Etymology

From Middle English bürȝen, from Old English byrgen, burgen (“burying-place, grave, sepulchre, tomb, burial”), from Proto-Germanic *burginnijō (“burial”), from Proto-Indo-European *bhergh- (“to shelter, protect, save, preserve”). Related to Old English byrgan (“to raise a mound, hide, bury, inter”). More at bury.

Noun

burian (plural burians)

1. (Now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A tomb; sepulchre.
2. (Now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A barrow; mound; tumulus; a kind of fortification.
3. (Now chiefly dialectal, Scotland) A camp; hill-fort.