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Combe

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For other uses, see Combe (disambiguation).
Look up combe in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
An example photograph of a Combe in Switzerland.
The "Combe de Dreveneuse" in Valais, Switzerland.

A combe (/kuːm/; also spelled coombe or coomb and, in place names, comb) can refer either to a steep, narrow valley, or to a small valley or large hollow on the side of a hill;[1][2] in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through which a watercourse does not run.[3][4]

The word "combe" derives from Old English cumb and is unrelated to the English word "comb".[5] 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”), of identical meaning, through Proto-Indo-European *ḱumbʰ-.[6]

Today, the word is used mostly in reference to the combes of southern[7] and southwestern England.

Examples

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The following is a list places in the British Isles named for having combes:

References

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  1. ^ "Combe". Merriam–Webster's Dictionary. Merriam–Webster. 2011.
  2. ^ "Coomb". Webster's New World College Dictionary. Cleveland, Ohio: Wiley Publishing, Inc. 2010.
  3. ^ "Combe". Encarta World English Dictionary: North American Edition. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. 2009.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ "Coomb". Collins Pocket English Dictionary. HarperCollins Publishers Ltd. 2010. Archived from the original on 2011-10-18.
  5. ^ "Comb". Century Dictionary.
  6. ^ Gooden, Phillip (2009). The Story of English. Quercus. p. 22. ISBN 9781847242723. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Coombe". Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. 2010. Archived from the original on January 27, 2014. A short valley or hollow on a hillside or coastline, especially in southern England.
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