bourn

¹

or bourne

[ bawrn, bohrn ]

noun

, Scot. and North England.

1. burn ².

bourn

²

[ bawrn, bohrn, boorn ]

noun

, Archaic.

1. a bound; limit.
2. destination; goal.
3. realm; domain.

bourn

¹

/ bɔːn /

noun

1. a stream, esp an intermittent one in chalk areas Compare burn 2

bourn

²

/ bɔːn /

noun

1. a destination; goal
2. a boundary

Other Words From

• bournless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bourn¹

1515–25; earlier borne < Middle French, Old French, originally a Picard form of bodne; bound ³

Word History and Origins

Origin of bourn¹

C16: from Old French bodne limit; see bound ³

Origin of bourn²

C16: from Old French borne ; see bound ³

Example Sentences

As Winterson described it in a recent interview, this is “Shakespeare’s undiscovered country, ‘from whose bourn no traveler has returned.’”

From Los Angeles Times

Paul Reubens has left the Earth, riding a sporty red-and-white bicycle into that Puppetland from whose bourn no traveler returns, but leaving us with his great creation and alter ego: Pee-wee Herman.

From Los Angeles Times

But is its destination — what Hamlet called “the undiscovered country from whose bourn/No traveler returns” — merely an abrupt conclusion?

From New York Times

What Hamlet called “the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns” has wide-open borders in Brockmeier’s morose but clever tales.

From Washington Post

In other words, was Hamlet right to call death an inescapable boundary, “the undiscovered country from whose bourn no traveler returns?”

From New York Times

Related Words

• ambition
• aspiration
• desire
• determination
• direction
• function
• goal
• idea
• intent
• objective
• plan
• principle
• project
• reason
• scheme
• scope
• view
• wish