Abourne is an intermittentstream, flowing from a spring. Frequent in chalk and limestone country where the rock becomes saturated with winter rain, that slowly drains away until the rock becomes dry, when the stream ceases.[1] The word is from theAnglo-Saxon language of England.
The word can be found in northern England in placenames such as:Redbourne andLegbourne but is commonly in use in southernEngland (particularlyDorset) as a name for a small river, particularly in compound names such aswinterbourne. A winterbourne is a stream or river that is dry through the summer months.
Bourne is used as a place name or as a part of a place name, usually inchalkdownland countryside. Alternative forms arebourn orborne orborn. The apparent variant,borne found in the placename:Camborne, arises from theCornish language and is in fact afalse friend: it refers to a hill (Cornish:bronn, fromCommon Brythonic*brunda; compareWelshbryn).Born/borne in German also means fount, or spring, and is related to the Indo-European root,*bhreu. Thatborn/borne appears throughout Europe as a placename is also an important clue that this spelling is an etymological precursor to the Middle Englishbourne/burn.
Cf.Burn (landform), in common use in Scotland and North East England especially, but also found (in placenames) elsewhere in England such as:Blackburn,Gisburn,Woburn,Kilburn,Winkburn, and so forth.
For rivers and places named Bourne or having this word as part of the name, seeBourne (disambiguation).
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bourne".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 332–333.