combe

Meanings

1. A valley, often wooded and often with no river
2. A cirque.

1. A surname.
2. A number of places in England:
3. A hamlet and civil parish (without a council) in West Berkshire district, Berkshire (OS grid ref SU3760).
4. A small village in Brixton parish, South Hams district, Devon (OS grid ref SX5452).
5. A hamlet near Scorriton, West Buckfastleigh parish, South Hams district, Devon (OS grid ref SX7068).
6. A hamlet in Malborough parish, South Hams district, Devon (OS grid ref SX7138).
7. A hamlet in Wadhurst parish, Wealden district, East Sussex (OS grid ref TQ6228).
8. A hamlet and civil parish in west Herefordshire, on the border with Wales (OS grid ref SO3463).
9. A village and civil parish in West Oxfordshire district, Oxfordshire (OS grid ref SP4116).
10. A hamlet in Huish Episcopi parish, Somerset, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST4128).

Etymology

From Middle English coumbe, cumbe, from Old English cumb, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kumbaz; compare Dutch kom (“bowl, basin”), German Kump (“vessel”). Related to Welsh cwm (“a hollow valley”), Ancient Greek κύμβη (kúmbē, “hollow”), Sanskrit कुम्भ (kumbha, “a pot, jug”), etc. through Proto-Indo-European *ḱumbʰ-.