Combe

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Type of valley used in place names

title: "Combe" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["valleys", "slope-landforms"] description: "Type of valley used in place names" topic_path: "general/valleys" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Combe" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Type of valley used in place names ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Combe_dreveneuse.jpg" caption="The "Combe de Dreveneuse" in Valais, Switzerland." alt="An example photograph of a Combe in Switzerland."] ::

A combe (; 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; in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through which a watercourse does not run.

The word "combe" derives from Old English cumb and is unrelated to the English word "comb". 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-.

Today, the word is used mostly in reference to the combes of southern |year= 2010 |title= Coombe |encyclopedia= Compact Oxford English Dictionary |publisher= Oxford University Press |location= |url= http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/combe?view=uk |archive-url= https://archive.today/20140127235358/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/combe?view=uk |url-status= dead |archive-date= January 27, 2014 | quote = A short valley or hollow on a hillside or coastline, especially in southern England. and southwestern England.

Examples

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

References

References

  1. (2011). "Combe". Merriam–Webster.
  2. (2010). "Coomb". Wiley Publishing, Inc.
  3. (January 2018). ["Combe"](http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/dictionary/DictionaryResults.aspx?refid=561502913 }}{{dead link). Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.
  4. (2010). "Coomb". HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
  5. "Comb".
  6. (2009). "The Story of English". Quercus.

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valleysslope-landforms