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
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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 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winterbourne

MLA

“winterbourne.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winterbourne. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “winterbourne,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/winterbourne.

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