winterbourne

win·ter·bourne
W4I1N1T1E1R1B3O1U1R1N1E1
UK/ˈwɪntəbɔːn/US/ˈwɪntɚˌboɹn/US[-ɾɚ-]Canada, US/ˈwɪntɚˌbɝn/

noun

A stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather, particularly in an area rich in limestone.

OriginOld English winterburna ← Proto-Germanic *wintruz ← Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- →
UncommonScrabble 17
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok
Word of the Day · May 20, 2024

Meanings

winterbourne1

nounwinterbourne (plural winterbournes)

plural winterbournes

  1. UKA stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather, particularly in an area rich in limestone.

    The stream is a winterbourne - it flows only in winter or other periods of high rainfall and is usually dry in summer.

    1980, AA Book of British Villages, Drive Publications Ltd, page 334, about Rockbourne
    1 more example

    [F]rom the graveyard itself burst up one of those noble springs known as winter-bournes in the chalk ranges, which, awakened in autumn from the abysses to which it had shrunk during the summer's drought, was hurrying down upon its six months' course, a broad sheet of oily silver, over a temporary channel of smooth green sward.

    1848, [Charles Kingsley], “The Philosophy of Fox-hunting”, in Yeast: A Problem. […], London: John W[illiam] Parker, […], published 1851, →OCLC, pages 14–15

Winterbourne2

proper noun
  1. A place in England:
    1. A small village and civil parish in West Berkshire district, Berkshire (OS grid ref SU4572).
    2. A large village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire district, Gloucestershire, England (OS grid ref ST6580).
    3. A hamlet in Boughton under Blean parish, Swale district, Kent (OS grid ref TR0657).
    4. A civil parish north-east of Salisbury, Wiltshire.
  2. A community in Woolwich township, Regional Municipality of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
  3. A surname from Old English.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
river

Origin

winterbourne · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*bʰrewh₁-“to boil; to brew”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wintruz
  3. Old Englishwinterburna“stream that is full in winter”
  4. Englishwinterbourne

From winter + bourne (“seasonal brook or stream”), partly also from the placenames Winterborne, Winterbourne, which are derived from Old English winterburna (“stream that is full in winter”), from winter (from Proto-Germanic *wintruz, further etymology uncertain) + burna (“stream”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”)). The Old English word appears to have survived only in placenames.

More words from Old English, Proto-Germanic, Proto-Indo-European

Full word history & related roots →

Winterbourne · proper noun

  1. Old EnglishWinterburna
  2. EnglishWinterbourne

From Old English Winterburna < winter + burna (“stream”), 'the stream that flows in winter'.

More words from Old English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Finnish talvella virtaava joki
  • talvella virtaava jokistream that only flows in winter or after wet weather
Welsh nant hafesb, gaeafnant
  • nant hafesbstream that only flows in winter or after wet weather
  • gaeafnantstream that only flows in winter or after wet weather
Cite this entry
APA

winterbourne. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winterbourne

MLA

“winterbourne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winterbourne. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “winterbourne,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winterbourne.

Source: winterbourne on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.