# berm

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɜː(ɹ)m/ · frequency rank #59,223

## Definitions
1. A narrow ledge or shelf, as along the top or bottom of a slope.
2. A raised bank or path, especially the bank of a canal opposite the towpath.
3. One of the flat terraces on the slope of an open-pit mine.
4. A terrace or shelf of sand along a beach, formed above the high tide water level by wave action.
5. A long mound or bank of earth, used especially as a barrier or to provide insulation.
6. A small wall along the edge of a bench of an open-pit mine, intended to prevent items falling over the crest.
7. A ledge between the parapet and the moat in a fortification.
8. A strip of land between a street and sidewalk.
9. The edge of a road.

## Etymology
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”).

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/berm