Etymograph

English

bourne

Bourne comes from Middle English bourne ‘a stream or river’, from Proto-Germanic *brunnô ‘source’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil, brew’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-1‘to boil, brew’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₁wr̥2‘a bubbling forth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brunnô3‘source’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*brunnō4‘stream, brook’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150burna5‘stream’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bourne5‘a stream or river’
  7. Englishtodaybourne5

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₁wr̥
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brunnô
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *brunnō
  4. 4 Wiktionary, Old English burna
  5. 5 Wiktionary, English bourne

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-Wiktionary, Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₁wr̥‘to boil, brew’uncertain
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₁wr̥Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *brunnô‘a bubbling forth’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brunnôWiktionary, Proto-West Germanic *brunnō‘source’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*brunnōWiktionary, Old English burna‘stream, brook’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150burnaWiktionary, English bourne‘stream’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500bourneWiktionary, English bourne‘a stream or river’
  7. EnglishtodaybourneWiktionary, English bourne

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil, brew’

brand, bread, purple, brew, broth, brunt, brim, fervor, fervent, bourbon, ferment, bren, effervescent, broil, porphyry, briny, purpura, 40 more

through Proto-Germanic *brunnô ‘source’

burn, 1 more

Today it means

noun A stream or brook in which water flows only seasonally; a small stream or brook.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “bourne”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Indo-European *bʰréh₁wr̥, Proto-Germanic *brunnô, Proto-West Germanic *brunnō, Old English burna. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- / bourne

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