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Borne is, just like born, the past participle of the verb bear, which can mean (among other things) "to contain" or "to give birth to." At first, borne and born were variant spellings of the same adjective. Used as in water-borne (or water-born), it means "carried by." In the phrase "borne enemies" (or "born enemies"), it means "from birth." To add to the confusion, the spelling borne sees occasional use in the passive voice in the "to give birth to" sense, as in "two sons were borne by his wife." In combining forms, born is reserved for the adjective related to birth (as in newly-born and Massachusetts-born) and borne retains the sense of "carried" ("airborne passengers").
Examples of borne in a Sentence
Madeline Drexler, Wilson Quarterly, Summer 2002
The news carried by mail coach is an exact inversion of the railroad-borne news in Charles Dickens's Dombey and Son (1844-46).
—John Plotz, The Crowd, 2000
I would tend to think your strawberries died from other causes. Strawberries need excellent drainage and a sandy, acidic soil that has good air space to encourage root health. They like a soil that has been amended with compost. But strawberries can succumb to soil-borne diseases.
—Kathy Huber, Houston Chronicle, 3 Oct. 1998
Sarah Scott, Parents, 31 Oct. 2024
But Wayne Turnage, deputy mayor for health and human services, said the choice not to increase the benefits is one borne of financial necessity, as many of the District’s social services programs are overburdened, over budget and more inneed of the cash.
—Meagan Flynn, Washington Post, 9 Dec. 2023
Despite these daunting numbers and the fear associated with the deadly, vector borne disease, 17-year-old innovator Gabrielle Wong, believes technology can help humans develop immunity to the problems ahead.
—Jon Stojan, USA TODAY, 14 July 2023
That's followed by glimpses of Chalamet's Edgar inadvertently puncturing a football, attracting a field of magnets in science class, and more scissorhands-borne mishaps.
—Tyler Aquilina, EW.com, 7 Feb. 2021
See all Example Sentences for borne 
Dictionary Entries Near borne
Cite this Entry
“Borne.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/borne. Accessed 16 Dec. 2024.
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