Etymology

bourne

B3O1U1R1N1E1

Today it means: A boundary; a limit. Full definition →

Middle French borne ← Old French bodne ← Medieval Latin bodina
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bourne · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*bʰudʰmḗn“bottom, base”
  2. Medieval Latin · derived frombodina
  3. Old French · derived frombodne
  4. Middle French · borrowed fromborne
  5. English todaybourne

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.

bourne · noun2

  1. Old English · inherited fromburna
  2. Middle English · inherited frombourne
  3. English todaybourne

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

Bourne · proper noun3

  1. Old English · derived fromburna“stream”
  2. English todayBourne

The placename and English surname are derived from Old English burna (“stream”), whence also the common noun bourne (“stream”).

Words from the same roots

Medieval Latinbodina all →

bound

Proto-Indo-European*bʰudʰmḗn all →

bottomfundamental

Old Englishburna all →

BurnhamBruntonbrindleBrundishbrunneWinkburn

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.