# burrow

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈbʌɹəʊ/ · frequency rank #25,305

## Definitions
1. A tunnel or hole, often as dug by a small creature.
2. Obsolete form of barrow (“a mound”).
3. Obsolete form of borough (“an incorporated town”).

## Etymology
From Middle English borowe, borewe, borwȝ, burȝe, burh, burye (“refuge for an animal, lair, burrow”), apparently a variant of Middle English burgh (“fortified dwelling, stronghold, refuge”) (see borough) and thus from Old English burh, from Proto-West Germanic *burg, from Proto-Germanic *burgz (“stronghold, city”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high”), but this sense is not known in Old English burh. Compare, however, Dutch cognate burcht, which has a similar sense.
It may be related to bury (“to dig”), in which case it would be derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- (“to protect, defend, save, preserve”).

## Easily confused with
- **Burton** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burrow-vs-burton)
- **brow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/brow-vs-burrow)
- **burr** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burr-vs-burrow)
- **borrow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/borrow-vs-burrow)
- **barrow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/barrow-vs-burrow)
- **Barlow** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/barlow-vs-burrow)
- **Barron** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/barron-vs-burrow)
- **Burgos** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/burgos-vs-burrow)

## Common misspellings (7)
`bburrow`, `brurow`, `burorw`, `burow`, `burroww`, `burrwo`, `ubrrow`

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