nailbourne means A chalk stream that only flows intermittently. It carries an Arena rating of 1642, earned across 8 head-to-head judged battles.
Why “nailbourne” is a great word
A chalk stream that flows only intermittently or seasonally. From nail (of uncertain etymology, possibly a rebracketing from 'an ailbourne') + bourne ('seasonal stream or brook'). Unlike a perennial stream, with its constant, reliable murmur, or a wadi, a desert arroyo carved by rare, violent floods, a nailbourne is a temperate ghost of the chalklands. It is the silver thread of water that vanishes into thirsty gravel, the cool dampness seeping through boots in a meadow that was dry the week before, and the faint mineral scent of wet flint rising from a newly exposed bed. It is a landscape holding its breath, a quiet reminder that the most solid-seeming earth is permeable, holding its secrets in temporary, liquid form.
Etymology
From nail + bourne (“seasonal stream or brook”). The etymology of the first part is uncertain. It may derive from ail via a rebracketing of an ailbourne as a nailbourne; compare similar cases such as English newt and nickname.
noun
- A chalk stream that only flows intermittently.“Theſe Nailbourns, or temporary land-ſprings, are not unuſual in the parts of this county eaſtward of Sittingborne, for I know of but one, at Addington near Maidſtone, which is on the other ſide of it. Their time of breaking forth or continuance of running, is very uncertain; but whenever they do break forth, it is held by the common people as the forerunner of ſcarcity and dearneſs of corn and vic”