bourne

\buʁn\

/\buʁn\/ noun

The verdict

“bourne” is a moderately-common French word, ranked #31,857 in French word frequency and used as a noun.

#31,857
frequency rank, French
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - , Nasse, casier en bois pour piéger les écrevisses, les homards, les crustacés en général.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bourne vs burn
67% similar
bourne vs bure
67% similar
bourne vs brune
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bourne
PropertyValue
Headwordbourne
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\buʁn\
Letters6
Frequency rank#31,857
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bourne” sits in French frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). bourne lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The French entry for bourne is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \buʁn\. Corpus data places it at rank #31,857 in overall French word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: ", Nasse, casier en bois pour piéger les écrevisses, les homards, les crustacés en général.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for bourne, with forms such as "bbourne", "borune", and "bounre". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "burn", "bure", "brune", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct French form is bourne, spelled B-O-U-R-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    , Nasse, casier en bois pour piéger les écrevisses, les homards, les crustacés en général.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bbourne,borune,bounre,bouren,bournne,bourrne,buorne,oburne

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bourne - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbourne1borune2bounre2bouren2bournne1bourrne1buorne2oburne2
Edit distance from "bourne"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bourne"?
"bourne" is spelled B-O-U-R-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is \buʁn\.
What does "bourne" mean?
As a noun, "bourne" means: , Nasse, casier en bois pour piéger les écrevisses, les homards, les crustacés en général.
What words are commonly confused with "bourne"?
"bourne" is commonly confused with "burn", "bure", "brune". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bourne"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bourne" is \buʁn\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "bourne" come from?
"bourne" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Using “bourne”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct French spelling is B-O-U-R-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as \buʁn\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “burn” - see the side-by-side comparison. bourne vs burn
  • Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list