burrow

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English burgh (“refuge of an animal; lair, den”), also spelled burh, borewe and borwȝ,^[2][3][4] which the MED derives from the word for a stronghold, borough, influenced by berg (“hill”) and berwen (“to protect”).^[2][5] Most dictionaries likewise call it a variant of borough with a sense of shelter or refuge,^{[5][6][7][8][4][9][10]} that is, a development inherited from Old English burg (“stronghold, fortress, town”).^[3][5] The OED calls the origin obscure, since the sense is not found for the Old English word or its relatives in any Germanic language; it suggests a special use of borough in the sense "stronghold", or else an unrecorded derivative of Proto-Germanic *berganą (“to shelter, protect”), the source of bury.^[11] The Old English noun goes back to Proto-Germanic *burgz, with cognates in Gothic 𐌱𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌲𐍃 (baurgs, “castle, citadel, city”), Old Norse borg, Old Saxon burg and Old High German burg.^[12] The verb was formed from the noun.^{[11][3][5][13]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The refuge or den of an animal: in Layamon's Brut, probably before 1200.^[2][3] The OED's first record is from before 1375, in William of Palerne,^[11] and Etymonline dates the word to about 1300.^[5] The Wycliffite Bible (1384) has "Foxis han dichis, or borowis".^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

From the animal's hole the noun spread to any small underground passage (1615–62, now obsolete) and to a small, secluded or cramped dwelling or retreat (from 1650).^[11][13] Merriam-Webster also uses it for the passage that a parasite makes in or under the skin.^[14] The verb began in 1596 as "to hide (oneself) away as in a burrow",^[11][14] figuratively "to lodge as in a burrow" from 1614.^[11][3] Etymonline dates the intransitive sense "to bore one's way into" to the 1610s, at first figurative.^[5] Johnson (1755) already defined the verb as making holes in the ground, as rabbits do,^[15] though the OED's first record of this sense, of animals, is from 1771.^[11][5] From 1804 it was used figuratively of boring or making one's way under a surface, from 1831 transitively of excavating, and since 1915 of thrusting one's head or face into something,^[11] a use Etymonline finds by 1862.^[5] In slang, burrow has meant the vagina (1784) and, in Australia, a pocket (1967).^[16] In the English Midlands the dialect word also meant shelter from sun or wind, the lee side of a hedge.^[17]

Timeline

• probably before 1200 – the den or refuge of an animal, in Layamon's Brut.^[2][3] The OED's first record is from before 1375, Etymonline's from about 1300.^[11][5]
• 1596 – verb, to hide oneself away as in a burrow.^[11][14]
• 1614 – verb, figuratively, to lodge as in a burrow.^[11][3]
• 1615 – a small tubular passage (obsolete by 1662).^[11]
• 1650 – a small, secluded dwelling or retreat.^[11][13]
• 1771 – verb, of animals, to dig a burrow.^[11][5]
• 1784 – slang, the vagina.^[16]
• 1804 – verb, figuratively, to bore one's way under a surface.^[11]
• 1831 – verb, transitive, to excavate by burrowing.^[11]
• 1915 – verb, to thrust one's head or face into something.^[11] Etymonline finds this by 1862.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hole or tunnel dug in the ground by an animal such as a rabbit or fox, for shelter or as a home.^[10][14][11]
2. A small, snug or secluded place of shelter or retreat.^[10][11][13]
3. A passage made in or under the skin by a parasite, such as the scabies mite.^[14]

Verb

1. To dig a burrow, or dig into, through or under the ground.^[10][11][15]
2. To move or make one's way by, or as if by, digging: The mole burrowed under the lawn.^[10][11]
3. To live or hide in a burrow; to hide oneself.^[10][11][14]
4. To search or delve deeply: She burrowed in her bag for the tickets.^[10]
5. To press or thrust one's head or face into something; to nestle.^[11][13]
6. To make by digging or tunnelling.^[14][11]

Word family

• burrower
• burrowing owl

Related words

• borough
• barrow
• bury
• burgh

Usage notes

A burrow was also a heap or mound, now especially of mining refuse, the form taken in some parts of England, chiefly Cornwall, by the Old English word for a hill, of which barrow is the usual form;^[11][13][17] Merriam-Webster marks it archaic.^[14] Another burrow, shelter, recorded from 1577 and now dialectal, goes back to the Old English noun from beorgan (“to shelter”).^[11][13]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b c d e f g Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
15. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)