ppl. a. Forms: see BEAR v.
1. Carried, sustained, endured, etc. Used attrib. chiefly in such constructions as ‘patiently borne injuries,’ ‘the breeze-borne note.’
1605. Shaks., Macb., III. ii. 42. The shard-borne Beetle.
b. Light borne, easily guided, not hard-mouthed; said of horses. Water borne, see quot.
1611. Cotgr., Alegerir un cheval à la main, to … cause a horse to be light borne.
1627. Capt. Smith, Seaman’s Gram., ix. 45. Water borne is when there is no more water than will iust beare her from the ground.
2. Comb., with adverbs, as borne-down, borne-in, etc. See bear down, bear in, etc. under BEAR v.
1600. Chapman, Iliad, XV. 354. In such a borne-up kind The Trojans overgat the Wall.
1637. Rutherford, Lett., clxx. (1862), I. 399. Intimated and borne-in assurance of His love.
1679. King, in Spirit of Popery, 23. The born-down and Ruined Interest of our Lord and Master.
1878. Browning, La Saisiaz, 10. Blushing ‘Good Night,’ rosy as a borne-off bride’s.
