See also: Bourne, bouřné, and bouřně

English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From Middle French borne, from Old French bodne, from Medieval Latin bodina, a word of unknown ultimate origin, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (bottom, base), see also Proto-Celtic *bundos.[4]

Noun

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bourne (countable and uncountable, plural bournes)

  1. (countable, archaic) A boundary; a limit.
  2. (archaic) A goal or destination.
    • 1816 June – 1817 April/May (date written), [Mary Shelley], chapter I, in Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus. [], volume III, London: [] [Macdonald and Son] for Lackington, Hughes, Harding, Mavor, & Jones, published 1 January 1818, →OCLC, page 12:
      I passed through many beautiful and majestic scenes; but my eyes were fixed and unobserving. I could only think of the bourne of my travels, and the work which was to occupy me whilst they endured.

Etymology 2

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From Middle English bourne, from Old English burna. Doublet of burn.

Noun

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bourne (plural bournes)

  1. A stream or brook in which water flows only seasonally; a small stream or brook.
Derived terms
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  • bourn (small stream), burn (stream)

References

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  1. ^ bourne”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. (for "boundary; destination")
  2. ^ bourne”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present. (for both "boundary" and "stream")
  3. ^ bourne”, in Collins English Dictionary. (for both "boundary" and "stream")
  4. ^ Mann, S. E. (1963). Armenian and Indo-European: Historical Phonology. United Kingdom: Luzac, p. 73

Anagrams

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