{{short description|Term of Scottish origin for a small river}} {{Use New Zealand English|date=April 2024}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{multiple image | direction = vertical | width = 150 | header= Views of Usway Burn | footer= Usway Burn is a tributary of River Coquet in Northumberland | footer_align = center | image1 = Usway Burn - geograph.org.uk - 1718597.jpg | alt1 = | caption1 = | image2 = Usway Burn - geograph.org.uk - 1561388.jpg | alt2 = | caption2 = | image3 = Waterfall, Usway Burn - geograph.org.uk - 1561467.jpg | alt3 = | caption3 = }}
In local usage, a '''burn''' is a kind of watercourse. The term applies to a large stream or a small river. The word is used in Scotland and England (especially North East England) and in parts of Ulster, Kansas, Australia and New Zealand.
==Etymology== The cognate of ''burn'' in standard English is "bourn", "bourne", "borne", "born", which is retained in placenames like ''Bournemouth'', ''King's Somborne'', ''Holborn'', ''Melbourne''. A cognate in German is ''Born''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dwds.de/?kompakt=1&qu=Born |title=DWDS | Suchergebnisse für Born |language=de |publisher=Dwds.de |access-date=2015-12-23}}</ref> (contemp. ''Brunnen''), meaning "well", "spring" or "source", which is retained in placenames like ''Paderborn'' in Germany. Both the English and German words derive from the same Proto-Germanic root.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=bourn |title=Online Etymology Dictionary |publisher=Etymonline.com |access-date=2015-12-23}}</ref>
Scots Gaelic has the word ''bùrn'', also cognate, but which means "fresh water"; the actual Gaelic for a "burn" is ''allt'' (sometimes anglicised as "ault" or "auld" in placenames.
French also uses Bourne or Borne in watercourse names, e.g. in {{interlanguage link|Gorges de la Bourne|fr}}. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/%C3%89tymologies_des_noms_de_lieu_de_la_Dr%C3%B4me/Chapitre_3#:~:text=La%20Bourne%2C%20affluent%20de%20l,%2C%20fontaine%2C%20ruisseau%20en%20t|title=Étymologie des noms de la Drôme|lang=fr|access-date=2026-04-16}}</ref> ==Examples== {{div col|colwidth=22em}} *Blackburn *Broxburn *Bucks Burn *Burnside *Braid Burn *Dighty Burn *Burn Dale, East Donegal *Burnfoot, Inishowen *Burn of Elsick *Burn of Pheppie *Burn of Muchalls *Bannockburn *Crawfordsburn *Cronaniv Burn, ''Gaoth Dobhair'' *Gisburn *Hebburn *Jordan Burn *Kilburn (disambiguation) *Lyburn *Ouseburn *Roseburn *Routeburn Track *Saltburn-by-the-Sea *Seaburn *Seaton Burn *Shirburn *Tedburn *Tyburn *Wedderburn *Westburn *Whitburn *Whitlawburn *Winkburn *Winterburn *Wooburn {{div col end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Wiktionary|bùrn|burn#Noun}} * [http://swap.nesc.gla.ac.uk/database/ Scottish Words and Place-Names:Place-Name Glossary]
{{Rivers, streams and springs}} {{authority control}}
Category:Water streams Category:Landforms Category:Northumbrian folklore Category:Rural Scotland Category:Scots language Category:Scottish English Category:Scottish toponyms Category:Rivers of Scotland Category:Rivers of Northumberland Category:Rivers of Ireland