A simple e makes all the difference between born and borne. It’s also but one instance to which too many writers don’t pay attention. How one letter can change the entire meaning. Lord knows, there’s an entire blog post that will be devoted to -ing endings!
For want of a horse, a kingdom was lost;
for want of an e, the whole meaning was lost.
A quick comparison is born is a birth (of sorts) that results from an action or event while borne is endured or being carried, and bourn is a wee brook carrying it all before us with its own limits.
I hadn’t planned on doing sentence comparisons until I thought up this one.
| It simply cannot be born.
As it stands, someone doesn’t want a baby to be born. |
It simply cannot be borne.
There is some event or action that the speaker doesn’t want to happen, that s/he can’t carry the weight of. |
It simply cannot be bourn.
Someone thinks it should be a creek or river or . . .? |
So while this future post is still aborning — and y’all have borne so well with me through the months *grin* — I will bore on with my particular passion, for I was born to pursue words in any form I can get them. They have borne me through the years, eliciting laughter and tears, shouts of anger and hysteria, and quiet chuckles and satisfaction. Of stories told, read, and yet to be read. A tall TBR of books stacked and waiting to be cracked . . . can you bear the wait? It can’t be borne, for I cannot read fast enough for all I want to discover.
Bourn was added 5 November 2016.
Exploring Later . . .
You may want to explore
You may want to explore “Anchorage, Haven, Moorage, and Roadstead“, “Arroyo vs Coulee vs Wadi vs Wash“, “Bay vs Bight vs Cove“, “Bayou vs Bog vs Marsh vs Swamp“, “Beach vs Coast vs Shore“, “Brook vs Burn vs Draw vs Lick“, “Canal vs Impoundment vs Moat vs Reservoir“, “Cay vs Key vs Quay“, “Channel vs Dyke vs Rill“, “Creak versus Creek“, “Dam versus Damn“, “Delta vs Estuary vs Rapids vs Source“, “Dock vs Pier vs Wharf“, “Firth vs Fjord vs Gulf“, “Harbor vs Marina vs Port vs Quay“, “Lakes: Kettle, Loch, Mere, and Oxbow“, “Ocean versus Sea“, “Peer versus Pier“, “River vs Stream vs Tributary“, “Rivulet vs Runnel vs Sike“, “Sea versus See“, “Slew versus Slough“, and “Straight versus Strait“.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
If you found this post on “Born vs Borne vs Bourn” interesting, consider subscribing to KD Did It, if you’d like to track this post for future updates.
| Born | Borne | Bourn |
|---|---|---|
 — |
 — |
 — |
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Morpheme: bear
Adjective; Verb, intransitive Third person present verb: bears |
Morpheme: bear
Adjective; Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: bears |
Noun 1, 2
Plural: bournes Alternative spelling: bourne |
| Adjective: Existing as a result of birth
Verb, intransitive:
To be located or situated To bring forth young or fruit |
Adjective: Carried or transported by Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive:
Support
Endure an ordeal or difficulty
Give birth to a child
|
[Dialect; Scottish and Northern and Southern England] A small stream, especially one that flows intermittently or seasonally 1
[Literary] A limit 2
A goal
|
| Examples: | ||
| Adjective: Geez, Larry, I wasn’t born yesterday. Well, in all my born days . . . I’ve never seen the like. He’s a born athlete. Verb, intransitive: She was born in Omaha in the 1950s. It was a power born of obsession. She was born and bred to the job. Oh, yeah, there’s a sucker born every minute. Well, now, iff’n he’d’ve born left at the fork in the road, he would’n’ve gotten lost. Lat year the tree had born a surplus of cherries. |
Adjective: We need to be careful of waterborne bacteria. It was an airborne spore. Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive: The warriors had borne lances tipped with iron. Steamboats had once borne the traveler out of Kerrerra Sound. The small boat had borne a white flag. Many of the papers had borne his flamboyant signature. She had borne herself with dignity. The walls could not have borne the weight of a stone vault. The expert’s fee shall be borne by the tenant. It is doubtful whether either of these distinctions would have borne scrutiny. He had borne the surname Tiller when he was alive. She had borne the pain stoically. She could hardly have borne his sarcasm. I could not have borne to see you hurt. She had borne six daughters. The findings have been borne out. You should’ve seen it. The squash had borne fruit shaped like cucumbers. |
When you come to the bourn, cross it and go left at the big oak.
Bourne became part of the name of many cities: Bournemouth, Cambourne, Southbourne, Cranbourne, Otterbourne, Eastbourne, Lambourn, and Melbourne. It was another hour a’foot before they reached the bourne. |
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: born-again, born-free, preborn, self-born | ||
| History of the Word: | ||
| Old English boren is the past participle of beran meaning to bear. | 17th century, both words were variant forms of the past participle of bear and used interchangeably with no distinction in meaning.
In 1775, borne became the standard past participle. |
|
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Born vs Borne vs Bourn
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits:
Zbečnický potok is Toma646‘s own work is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. Day-old Kitten by George Hodan is in the public domain, via Public Domain Pictures.
Revised as of 26 Oct 2022
By: Kathy Davie