Dictionary

winterbourne en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈwɪntɚˌboɹn/ (General-American)
• [ˈwɪ̃.ɾɚˌbɝːn] (Canada, General-American)
• (Southern-England) audio
• [-ɾɚ-] (General-American)
• /ˈwɪntɚˌbɝn/ (Canada, General-American)
• /ˈwɪntəbɔːn/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

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.

Meanings

1. (UK) A stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather, particularly in an area rich in limestone.
   • [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:
   • 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:

Forms

Relateds

nailbourne · eylebourn

Translations (5)

cy nant hafesb (stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather) · fi talvella virtaava joki (stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather) · cy gaeafnant (stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather) · mk зи́мски по́ток (stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather) · mk зи́мска ре́ка (stream that only flows in winter or after wet weather)