Combe
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A combe (Template:IPAc-en; 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;<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> in any case, it is often understood simply to mean a small valley through which a watercourse does not run.<ref>Template:Cite encyclopediaTemplate:Dead link</ref><ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref>
The word "combe" derives from Old English cumb and is unrelated to the English word "comb".<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> 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-.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Today, the word is used mostly in reference to the combes of southern<ref> Template:Cite encyclopedia </ref> and southwestern England.
ExamplesEdit
The following is a list places in the British Isles named for having combes: