bourne

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a boundary or limit, especially in archaic or literary use

   The explorers crossed the bourne beyond which no road had been mapped.

2. 2
   noun

   a goal or destination, especially a final or long-sought one

   After months at sea, the distant harbor was finally the bourne of their voyage.

From Middle French borne, 'boundary,' through Old French bodne and Medieval Latin bodina. The ultimate origin is uncertain. The spelling bourn is also used; the boundary sense broadened in literary English to a goal or destination.

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