# burn

> English word · Noun · IPA /bɜːn/ · frequency rank #2,821

## Definitions
1. A physical injury caused by heat, cold, electricity, radiation or caustic chemicals.
2. A sensation resembling such an injury.
3. The act of burning something with fire.
4. An intense non-physical sting, as left by shame or an effective insult.
5. An effective insult, often in the expression sick burn (excellent or badass insult).
6. Physical sensation in the muscles following strenuous exercise, caused by build-up of lactic acid.
7. Tobacco.
8. The writing of data to a permanent storage medium like a compact disc or a ROM chip.
9. The operation or result of burning or baking, as in brickmaking.
10. A disease in vegetables; brand.
11. The firing of a spacecraft's rockets in order to change its course.

## Etymology
From Middle English bernen (collateral form of brennen), from Old English birnan (“to burn”), metathesis from Proto-West Germanic *brinnan, from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną (“to burn”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw-, present stem from *bʰrewh₁-. Doublet of brew.
Cognate with Cimbrian prönnan (“to burn”), Dutch barnen, branden (“to burn”), German brinnen (“to burn”), Luxembourgish brennen (“to burn”), Vilamovian brīn (“to burn”), Yiddish ברענען (brenen, “to burn”), Danish brænde (“to burn”), Faroese, Icelandic brenna (“to burn”), Norwegian Bokmål brenne (“to burn”), Norwegian Nynorsk brenna, brenne (“to burn”), Swedish brinna (“to burn”), Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌹𐌽𐌽𐌰𐌽 (brinnan, “to burn”). See also Middle Irish brennim (“drink up”), bruinnim (“bubble up”); also Middle Irish bréo (“flame”), Albanian burth (“Cyclamen hederifolium, mouth burning”), Sanskrit भुरति (bhurati, “moves quickly, twitches, fidgets”). More at brew.

## Easily confused with
- **but** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-but)
- **buy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-buy)
- **bus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-bus)
- **busy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-busy)
- **bush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-bush)
- **butt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-butt)
- **buzz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-buzz)
- **bust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-bust)
- **buys** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-buys)
- **bury** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-bury)
- **Burt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-burt)
- **burr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-burr)
- **buss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-buss)
- **burp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-burp)
- **bute** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-bute)
- **burns** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-burns)
- **burst** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-burst)
- **burnt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-burnt)
- **Byron** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-byron)
- **Byrne** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burn-vs-byrne)

## Common misspellings (6)
`bburn`, `brun`, `bunr`, `burnn`, `burrn`, `ubrn`

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