bourn (redirected from bourns)

bourn ¹ also bourne  (bôrn, brn, brn)

n.

A small stream; a brook.

---

[Middle English, from Old English burna; see bhreu- in Indo-European roots.]

---

bourn ² also bourne  (bôrn, brn, brn)

n. Archaic

1. A destination; a goal.

2. A boundary; a limit.

---

[French bourne, from French dialectal bosne, borne, from Old French bodne, limit, boundary marker, from Medieval Latin bodina, of Celtic origin.]

---

bourn¹, bourne [bɔːn]

n Archaic

1. a destination; goal

2. a boundary

[from Old French borne; see bound³]

---

bourn²

n

(Earth Sciences / Physical Geography) Chiefly southern Brit a stream, esp an intermittent one in chalk areas Compare burn²

[from Old French bodne limit; see bound³]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	bourn - an archaic term for a boundary       bourne boundary, bounds, bound - the line or plane indicating the limit or extent of something
	2.	bourn - an archaic term for a goal or destination bourne goal, end - the state of affairs that a plan is intended to achieve and that (when achieved) terminates behavior intended to achieve it; "the ends justify the means"