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Added 9 October 2026

berm

/bɜː(ɹ)m/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about berm at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A narrow ledge or shelf typically at the top or bottom of a slope.
A narrow edge of land (usually unpaved) along the side of a road.
the car pulled off onto the shoulder

Origin

From Dutch berm (“strip of roadside grass, verge”), probably via French berme, from Middle Dutch barm, baerm, barem (“verge, bank”), from Old Dutch *barm, from Proto-West Germanic *barm, from Proto-Germanic *barmaz (“edge, border, seam”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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