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Combe

Type of valley used in place names From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Combe
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A combe (/km/; 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]

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The "Combe de Dreveneuse" in Valais, Switzerland.

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.

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Examples

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

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References

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