Borne Meaning
/bɔːn/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbpast participle of bear
adjcarried, supported.
Sentence Examples
The brunt of criticism was borne by the chairmen.
Sweet scents are borne on soft breezes.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The negative consequences of the policy were ____ entirely by the workers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cost of the project will be ____ by the local city government tonight.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English boren, iborne, from Old English boren, ġeboren, past participle of Old English beran (“to carry, bear”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Miranda: I ſhould ſinne / To thinke but Noblie of my Grand-mother, / Good wombes haue borne bad ſonnes."
— 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tempest”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
"“Can't you understand that love without confidence is a worthless thing—and that had you trusted me I would have borne any obloquy with you.[…]”"
— 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 21, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:
"In the last rays of the setting sun, you could pick out far away down the reach his beard borne high up on the white structure, foaming up stream to anchor for the night."
— 1901, Joseph Conrad, Falk: A Reminiscence:
"When, bright with purple and with gold,
Come priest and holy Cardinal,
And borne above the heads of all
The gentle Shepherd of the Fold."
— 1881, Oscar Wilde, “[Rosa Mystica.] Rome Unvisited.”, in Poems, London: David Bogue, […], →OCLC, canto III, page 46:
"Irving is further required, as a matter of practice, to spell out what he contends are the specific defamatory meanings borne by those passages."
— c. 2000, David Irving v. Penguin Books and Deborah Lipstadt, section II:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The negative consequences of the policy were ____ entirely by the workers.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cost of the project will be ____ by the local city government tonight.