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Added 7 October 2026

burn

/bɜːn/ noun

In Latin: combustiō Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about burn at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals.
She had second-degree burns from falling in the bonfire.
A mark left behind by a burn; a scorch or scar caused by a burn.
Cut the cigarette burn out from the fabric.
An abrasion resembling a burn.
carpet burn, rope burn, rug burn, turf burn

verb

To be consumed by fire or in flames.
He watched the house burn.
To contain a fire or coals.
The wood stove was burning, giving off plenty of heat.
To become overheated to the point of being unusable; to become scorched.
The grill was too hot and the steak burned.

noun

A large stream.

Origin

From late Middle English burne, birne, metathetic form of brinne, brynne, a variant of brennen, from Old Norse brinna, brenna (“to burn”), from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw-, present stem from *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil”). Doublet of brew. The late metathesis of East Midland brin- to birn- (and subsequently burn-) parallels the phonological development of bird and dirt from brid and drit. As this metathetic form became the Chancery Standard, it displaced the semantic functions and weak conjugation paradigm of the native Old English bærnan (weak), alongside the surviving remnants of byrnan (strong).

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

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