borwen

Middle English

Alternative forms

• borow, borowe, borwe
• borȝe, borȝin (Early Middle English); borough (Late Middle English); borhin (AB language)
• borwyn (East Anglia); bouerȝe (Kent); borowyn, borwon (Promptorium Parvulorum)
• boroo, borou, borro, boru (Northern, North Midland); borewe, borewen, borewi, boruwe, borwi (Southern, Southwest Midland)

Etymology

PIE root
*bʰergʰ-

Inherited from Old English borgian, from Proto-West Germanic *borgōn, from Proto-Germanic *burgōną; by surface analysis, borwe (“pledge, surety”) +‎ -en (infinitive suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔrwən/, /ˈbɔrɔu̯ən/
• IPA^(key): /ˈbɔriu̯(ə)/, /ˈbɔriu̯iː/ (especially Kent, Southern, South Midland)

Verb

borwen (third-person singular simple present borweth, present participle borwende, borwynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle borwed)

1. (ambitransitive) To borrow (take temporarily):
   1. To borrow money while depositing a security.
   2. (arithmetic) To subtract (especially in calculating a larger subtraction)
   3. (figuratively) To accept, adopt, or receive (especially temporarily)
   4. (figuratively) To employ or use (especially temporarily)
2. (transitive) To protect, guarantee, or save:
   1. To redeem or liberate (from damnation)
   2. (law) To deliver from imprisonment by acting as a guarantor.
   3. (rare, by extension) To deliver from captivity.
3. (rare, intransitive) To employ a guarantor or surety.

Conjugation

Conjugation of borwen (weak in -ede)

infinitive	(to) borwen, borwe
	present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	borwe	borwed(e)
2nd-person singular	borwest	borwedest
3rd-person singular	borweth	borwed(e)
subjunctive singular	borwe
imperative singular		—
plural1	borwen, borwe	borweden, borwed(e)
imperative plural	borweth, borwe	—
participles	borwynge, borwende	borwed, yborwed

¹ Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Descendants

• English: borrow
• Middle Scots: borrow
  • Scots: borrow

References

• “borwen, v.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
• “borrow, v.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.