Meanings
burd1
plural burds
- dialectalobsoletemaiden, young woman
The hall was furnished in a manner equally grand, and at one end of it was a glorious couch of velvet, silk and gold, and there sate Burd Ellen, combing her golden hair with a silver comb.
1890, Joseph Jacobs, “Childe Rowland”, in English Fairy Tales, page 122
Burd2
Origin
- Old Englishbyrde
- Middle Englishberde“woman, lady, young lady”
- Englishburd
From Middle English berde (“woman, lady, young lady”), possibly from Old English byrde, ġebyrde (“of noble birth”), from byrd, ġebyrd (“birth”), or from an unattested *byrde (“embroideress”). Possibly the origin of the English slang bird for a young woman.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
burd. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burd
“burd.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burd. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “burd,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/burd.
Source: burd on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.