English
burn
Burn comes from Old Norse brinna ‘to burn’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-‘to boil’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrenw-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brinnaną‘to burn’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350brinna‘to burn’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500burne
- Englishearliest quotation 1523burn
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-‘to boil’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrenw-reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brinnaną‘to burn’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350brinna‘to burn’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500burne
- Englishearliest quotation 1523burn
Earliest quotation: 1523, Johan Froyssart [i.e.: “They haue ſlayne my baylye⸝ and diſtroyed the houſes…”
The story
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).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- ‘to boil’
bread, purple, brew, broth, bourbon, brim, fervor, fervent, ferment, bourne, effervescent, broil, porphyry, brandish, purpura, 39 more
through Proto-Germanic *brinnaną ‘to burn’
Another origin of burn
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰrewh₁-‘to boil, brew’uncertain
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰréh₁wr̥‘a bubbling forth’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*brunnô‘source’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150burne‘spring, fountain’
- Northern Middle Englishmodernburn
- Englishtodaysame form
Today it means
noun A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- / burn