burrow

Meanings

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”).

1. To dig a tunnel or hole.
2. To move underneath or press up against in search of safety or comfort.
3. To investigate thoroughly.

1. A surname.
2. A place in England:
3. A hamlet in Broadclyst parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SX9997).
4. A settlement in Newton Poppleford and Harpford parish, East Devon district, Devon (OS grid ref SY0789).
5. A settlement in Kingsbury Episcopi parish, Somerset, which includes Higher Burrow and Lower Burrow (OS grid ref ST4120).
6. A hamlet in Wootton Courtenay parish and Timberscombe parish, Somerset (OS grid ref SS9342).

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”).