"bourne" meaning in English

See bourne in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /bɔːn/ [Received-Pronunciation], /boɹn/ [General-American], [bo̞ɹn] [General-American], /boːɹn/ (note: rhotic), /boən/ (note: non-rhotic) Forms: bournes [plural]
Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n Etymology: 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. Etymology templates: {{bor|en|frm|borne}} Middle French borne, {{der|en|fro|bodne}} Old French bodne, {{der|en|la-med|bodina}} Medieval Latin bodina, {{der|en|ine-pro|*bʰudʰmḗn|t=bottom, base}} Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom, base”), {{cog|cel-pro|*bundos}} Proto-Celtic *bundos Head templates: {{en-noun|~}} bourne (countable and uncountable, plural bournes)
  1. (countable, archaic) A boundary; a limit. Tags: archaic, countable
    Sense id: en-bourne-en-noun-Jw3Z7NQg
  2. (archaic) A goal or destination. Tags: archaic, countable, uncountable
    Sense id: en-bourne-en-noun-AK5mBqM2
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Noun

IPA: /bɔːn/ [Received-Pronunciation], /boɹn/ [General-American], [bo̞ɹn] [General-American], /boːɹn/ (note: rhotic), /boən/ (note: non-rhotic) Forms: bournes [plural]
Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)n Etymology: From Middle English bourne, from Old English burna. Doublet of burn. Etymology templates: {{etymid|en|stream}}, {{root|en|ine-pro|*bʰrewh₁-}}, {{inh|en|enm|bourne}} Middle English bourne, {{inh|en|ang|burna}} Old English burna, {{doublet|en|burn}} Doublet of burn Head templates: {{en-noun}} bourne (plural bournes)
  1. A stream or brook in which water flows only seasonally; a small stream or brook. Derived forms: Middlebourne Derived forms (seasonal stream): nailbourne, winterbourne Related terms: bourn (english: small stream), burn (english: stream)
    Sense id: en-bourne-en-noun-EFwKBZgX Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Northern Middle English, Pages with 2 entries, Pages with entries, West Midland Middle English, Water Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 18 2 80 Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 20 3 50 3 23 Disambiguation of Northern Middle English: 14 5 54 5 22 Disambiguation of Pages with 2 entries: 4 4 61 4 28 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 2 2 63 2 30 Disambiguation of West Midland Middle English: 13 4 58 5 20 Disambiguation of Water: 3 0 97
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "borne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French borne",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "bodne"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French bodne",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "bodina"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin bodina",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰudʰmḗn",
        "t": "bottom, base"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom, base”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "cel-pro",
        "2": "*bundos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Celtic *bundos",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bournes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "bourne (countable and uncountable, plural bournes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              77,
              82
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], signatures G2, recto – G2, verso:",
          "text": "[T]he dread of ſomething after death, / The vndiſcouer'd country, from whoſe borne / No trauiler returnes, puzzels the will, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              97,
              103
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, “[Our Lady of the Snows.] Father Apollinaris.”, in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 91:",
          "text": "[T]hough I did not stop in my advance, yet I went on slowly, like a man who should have passed a bourne unnoticed, and strayed into the country of the dead.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              24,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1889, Alfred Tennyson, Crossing the Bar:",
          "text": "For though from out our bourne of Time and Place,\nThe flood may bear me far,\nI hope to see my Pilot face to face\nWhen I have crossed the bar.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A boundary; a limit."
      ],
      "id": "en-bourne-en-noun-Jw3Z7NQg",
      "links": [
        [
          "boundary",
          "boundary"
        ],
        [
          "limit",
          "limit"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable, archaic) A boundary; a limit."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              119,
              125
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "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:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A goal or destination."
      ],
      "id": "en-bourne-en-noun-AK5mBqM2",
      "links": [
        [
          "goal",
          "goal"
        ],
        [
          "destination",
          "destination"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) A goal or destination."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɔːn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[bo̞ɹn]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "other": "/bʊɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophone": "borne (see there for more)"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔː(ɹ)n"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boːɹn/",
      "note": "rhotic"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boən/",
      "note": "non-rhotic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bourne"
}

{
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "stream"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymid"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰrewh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bourne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bourne",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "burna"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English burna",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "burn"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of burn",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bourne, from Old English burna. Doublet of burn.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bournes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bourne (plural bournes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "18 2 80",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "20 3 50 3 23",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 5 54 5 22",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Northern Middle English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "4 4 61 4 28",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 2 entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 2 63 2 30",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "13 4 58 5 20",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "West Midland Middle English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 0 97",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Water",
          "orig": "en:Water",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "derived": [
        {
          "sense": "seasonal stream",
          "word": "nailbourne"
        },
        {
          "sense": "seasonal stream",
          "word": "winterbourne"
        },
        {
          "word": "Middlebourne"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A stream or brook in which water flows only seasonally; a small stream or brook."
      ],
      "id": "en-bourne-en-noun-EFwKBZgX",
      "links": [
        [
          "stream",
          "stream"
        ],
        [
          "brook",
          "brook"
        ],
        [
          "seasonally",
          "seasonally"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "english": "small stream",
          "translation": "small stream",
          "word": "bourn"
        },
        {
          "english": "stream",
          "translation": "stream",
          "word": "burn"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɔːn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[bo̞ɹn]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "other": "/bʊɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophone": "borne (see there for more)"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔː(ɹ)n"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boːɹn/",
      "note": "rhotic"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boən/",
      "note": "non-rhotic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bourne"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English doublets",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms borrowed from Middle French",
    "English terms derived from Medieval Latin",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Middle French",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Old French",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰrewh₁-",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Northern Middle English",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)n",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)n/1 syllable",
    "West Midland Middle English",
    "en:Water",
    "enm:Water"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "borne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French borne",
      "name": "bor"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "bodne"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French bodne",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "la-med",
        "3": "bodina"
      },
      "expansion": "Medieval Latin bodina",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰudʰmḗn",
        "t": "bottom, base"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Indo-European *bʰudʰmḗn (“bottom, base”)",
      "name": "der"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "cel-pro",
        "2": "*bundos"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Celtic *bundos",
      "name": "cog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bournes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "~"
      },
      "expansion": "bourne (countable and uncountable, plural bournes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English countable nouns",
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              77,
              82
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], signatures G2, recto – G2, verso:",
          "text": "[T]he dread of ſomething after death, / The vndiſcouer'd country, from whoſe borne / No trauiler returnes, puzzels the will, […]",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              97,
              103
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, “[Our Lady of the Snows.] Father Apollinaris.”, in Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes, 1st American edition, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, →OCLC, page 91:",
          "text": "[T]hough I did not stop in my advance, yet I went on slowly, like a man who should have passed a bourne unnoticed, and strayed into the country of the dead.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              24,
              30
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "1889, Alfred Tennyson, Crossing the Bar:",
          "text": "For though from out our bourne of Time and Place,\nThe flood may bear me far,\nI hope to see my Pilot face to face\nWhen I have crossed the bar.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A boundary; a limit."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "boundary",
          "boundary"
        ],
        [
          "limit",
          "limit"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(countable, archaic) A boundary; a limit."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "countable"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with archaic senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              119,
              125
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "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:",
          "text": "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.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A goal or destination."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "goal",
          "goal"
        ],
        [
          "destination",
          "destination"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(archaic) A goal or destination."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "archaic",
        "countable",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɔːn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[bo̞ɹn]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "other": "/bʊɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophone": "borne (see there for more)"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔː(ɹ)n"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boːɹn/",
      "note": "rhotic"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boən/",
      "note": "non-rhotic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bourne"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English doublets",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *bʰrewh₁-",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms with homophones",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Northern Middle English",
    "Pages with 2 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)n",
    "Rhymes:English/ɔː(ɹ)n/1 syllable",
    "West Midland Middle English",
    "en:Water",
    "enm:Water"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "sense": "seasonal stream",
      "word": "nailbourne"
    },
    {
      "sense": "seasonal stream",
      "word": "winterbourne"
    },
    {
      "word": "Middlebourne"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "stream"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "etymid"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*bʰrewh₁-"
      },
      "expansion": "",
      "name": "root"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bourne"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bourne",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "burna"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English burna",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "burn"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of burn",
      "name": "doublet"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From Middle English bourne, from Old English burna. Doublet of burn.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "bournes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "bourne (plural bournes)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "english": "small stream",
      "translation": "small stream",
      "word": "bourn"
    },
    {
      "english": "stream",
      "translation": "stream",
      "word": "burn"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A stream or brook in which water flows only seasonally; a small stream or brook."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "stream",
          "stream"
        ],
        [
          "brook",
          "brook"
        ],
        [
          "seasonally",
          "seasonally"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/bɔːn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "[bo̞ɹn]",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "other": "/bʊɹn/",
      "tags": [
        "General-American"
      ]
    },
    {
      "homophone": "borne (see there for more)"
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-ɔː(ɹ)n"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boːɹn/",
      "note": "rhotic"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/boən/",
      "note": "non-rhotic"
    }
  ],
  "word": "bourne"
}

Download raw JSONL data for bourne meaning in English (8.0kB)

{
  "called_from": "linkages/371",
  "msg": "unrecognized linkage prefix: (placenames): Middlebourne desc=placenames rest=Middlebourne cls=romanization cls2=romanization e1=True e2=True",
  "path": [
    "bourne"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "bourne",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-08-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-08-05 using wiktextract (872fc7b and 4deed51). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.