An archaic or dialectal term for a small stream or burn, particularly used in Scottish and Northern English.
From Old English 'burne' or 'bern,' related to Old Norse 'brunnr' meaning 'spring' or 'well'; the word evolved into 'burn' in Scottish usage and 'berne' as a variant.
Burns and bernes are part of the geological storytelling of Scotland—their names often tell you something about the landscape, and following a burn upstream takes you through natural history!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.