Middle English Dictionary Entry

bǒur n.
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Entry Info

Forms bǒur n. Also bur(e, beur, bor(e; pl. bǒures & (early) bǒure(n, buren.
Etymology OE būr

Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)

1.
(a) A dwelling, house, mansion, cottage; (b) a shelter, den; (c) a bower; (d) a town [blended with burgh].
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2.
(a) An inner room; esp., a bedroom; (b) a lady's chamber; also, a suite for ladies, the women's quarters; (c) any kind of small room or compartment; a storeroom, a stall for animals, a kennel.
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3.
Various fig. uses: (a) the Virgin Mary's womb or body; Cristes ~, Goddes ~, the Virgin Mary; (b) the heart as the dwelling of God; brestes ~, herte ~; the brain as the abode of conscience; (c) heaven; heven boures, the mansions of heaven; (d) a grave; (e) a lineage; Jesse ~, the House of Jesse.
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4.
bour and hall, chamber and hall, house and mansion; in ~ and in hall, in chamber and in hall, in cottage and mansion, everywhere; in castel nother in ~, in castle nor cottage, nowhere; etc.
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5.
bour(e-grom, a chamberer, personal servant; ~ knight, ~ thein, ~ ward, one of the officers in charge of the private apartments of a king, chamberlain; ~ litel, ~ maid(en, ~ thern, a chambermaid, a lady-in-waiting; ~ man, a chamberer, a personal servant; prob. also, a cottager; ~ womman, a chambermaid, servant woman, lady-in-waiting; ~ yerd, ?the yard of a dwelling.
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6.
In names.
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