In local usage, aburn is a kind ofwatercourse. The term applies to a largestream or a smallriver. The word is used inScotland andEngland (especiallyNorth East England) and in parts ofUlster,Kansas,Australia andNew Zealand.
Thecognate ofburn in standardEnglish is "bourn", "bourne", "borne", "born", which is retained in placenames likeBournemouth,King's Somborne,Holborn,Melbourne. A cognate in German isBorn[1] (contemp.Brunnen), meaning "well", "spring" or "source", which is retained in placenames likePaderborn in Germany. Both the English and German words derive from the sameProto-Germanic root.[2]
Scots Gaelic has the wordbùrn, also cognate, but which means "fresh water"; the actual Gaelic for a "burn" isallt (sometimes anglicised as "ault" or "auld" in placenames.)
