GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Found 2 definitions

1.       
    Bourn, Bourne  (), n. [OE. burne, borne, AS. burna; akin to OS. brunno spring, G. born, brunnen, OHG. prunno, Goth. brunna, Icel. brunnr, and perh. to Gr. . The root is prob. that of burn, v., because the source of a stream seems to issue forth bubbling and boiling from the earth. Cf. Torrent, and see Burn, v.] A stream or rivulet; a burn.
   
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   My little boat can safely pass this perilous bourn. Spenser.
   
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2.       
    Bourn, Bourne  (), n. [F. borne. See Bound a limit.] A bound; a boundary; a limit. Hence: Point aimed at; goal.
   
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   Where the land slopes to its watery bourn. Cowper.
   
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   The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
   
   No traveler returns. Shak.
   
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   Sole bourn, sole wish, sole object of my song. Wordsworth.
   
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   To make the doctrine . . . their intellectual bourne. Tyndall.
   
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