# βρύση = "water tap" or "fountain"



## διαφορετικός

In some dictionaries, "βρύση" is defined exclusively as a water tap or a fountain.

But I have also seen signs and claims that it can also mean "spring" in the sense of "natural source of water", for instance in this Wikipedia article:

Krya Vrysi, Pella - Wikipedia

Is this a valid use of the word in Modern Greek?


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## Tr05

Hello! Well, toponyms are toponyms, there's virtually always some sort of story behind every name, but the term for "spring" as in "natural source of water" in Modern Greek is "πηγή". There's also a village in Halkidikí (probably elsewhere, too) called "Κρυοπηγή".


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## Perseas

In my daily usage, "βρύση" means "water tap". But in villages mainly there are also "πέτρινες βρύσες": πέτρινη βρύση - Google Search

You may hear, for example, "Θα πάω στη βρύση του χωριού". This "βρύση" is usually located in a central place of the village. Instead of "βρύση" you can also hear "πηγή" ("η πηγή του χωριού"). One would understand the same.  Given also that "πηγή" primarily means "spring", this is maybe the reason why you've met in dictionaries the meaning "spring" for "βρύση".


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## διαφορετικός

Thanks to Tr05 and Perseas.



Perseas said:


> "Θα πάω στη βρύση του χωριού"


Can you confirm that this kind of βρύση (or any other kind of βρύση) is never a purely natural spring without artificial components?


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## Perseas

διαφορετικός said:


> … . a purely natural spring without artificial components?


In that case I'd say "πηγή".


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## διαφορετικός

Thank you again, Perseas.


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## dmtrs

Sometimes it's true that βρύση means spring. See (and listen) Franz Schubert's 'Lindenbaum' in a Greek reprise by Loukianos Kilaidonis:
stixoi.info: Der Lindenbaum
Η Φλαμουριά - (-) - Στίχοι, Video - kithara.to
The same meaning can be found in some traditional Greek songs ('Demotika').


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## διαφορετικός

Thanks for your message, dmtrs. But I am a little confused, because in the German text of the song, the word for "βρύση" is "Brunnen", which is not a spring, but a fountain. Did you really mean a spring in the sense of a natural source of water?


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## dmtrs

The German lyrics are not translated word by word; this is a reprise. The first lines mean:
Close to the mountain spring
there's the linden tree
that in its shadow I used to settle
and (day)dream so often.


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## διαφορετικός

I see, thank you.

Do you think that "spring" is an almost outdated, older meaning of βρύση?

As I have found out, this is the case for the German word "Brunnen": originally, it meant "spring" (according to Brunnen – Wiktionary ).


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## διαφορετικός

This is a typical example of a "Brunnen" / fountain in Switzerland.
File:Uitzichtpunt bij Breil-Brigels (actm) 06.jpg - Wikimedia Commons
Would you call this "βρύση" at all?


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## Perseas

διαφορετικός said:


> Would you call this "βρύση" at all?


Yes. Βρύση, βρυσούλα.


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## dmtrs

You are welcome, διαφορετικέ.
Of course it's outdated. You can only find the word with this meaning in folk (and folk-ish) literature -I've already mentioned traditional Greek songs ('Demotika'). 
The etymology of the word βρύση is enlightening for this meaning (meaning 2) and Perseas' answer in #3:









The word αναβλύζω (αναβρύζω) [=to spring] retains the particular meaning:





(cross-posting)



διαφορετικός said:


> Would you call this "βρύση" at all?



Yes, this is definately a βρύση -and nothing but.


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## διαφορετικός

Thank you again, Perseas and dmtrs.



dmtrs said:


> The etymology of the word βρύση


This is interesting. Probably you could say therefore that the toponym's meaning is correctly explained in the Wikipedia article I mentioned earlier.

By the way (for those interested in the German language), there are also similar German toponyms which contain "brunn(en)" as their second part, and which probably refer rather to springs than to fountains. There are even some places called "Kaltenbrunn(en)" ("κρύα βρύση"). Another example is the Swiss village "Lauterbrunnen", well-known among tourists for its waterfalls.


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## Perseas

διαφορετικός said:


> By the way (for those interested in the German language), there are also similar German toponyms which contain "brunn(en)" as their second part, and which probably refer rather to springs than to fountains. There are even some places called "Kaltenbrunn(en)" ("κρύα βρύση"). Another example is the Swiss village "Lauterbrunnen", well-known among tourists for its waterfalls.


Good to know!


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## διαφορετικός




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## Αγγελος

Let us also mention the famous folk song Έχετε γεια, βρυσούλες, λόγγοι, βουνά, ραχούλες, said to have been sung by women who threw themselves into a precipice rather than be caught and raped by pursuing Turks, wher βρυσούλες clearly refers to  natural springs.


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## singvogel

dmtrs said:


> Sometimes it's true that βρύση means spring. See (and listen) Franz Schubert's 'Lindenbaum' in a Greek reprise by Loukianos Kilaidonis:
> stixoi.info: Der Lindenbaum
> Η Φλαμουριά - (-) - Στίχοι, Video - kithara.to
> The same meaning can be found in some traditional Greek songs ('Demotika').


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## singvogel

Hello everybody, 
in Schubert's lied it's absolutely a well outside the gate  (Brunnen vor dem Tore)!  I would translate that as Βρύση.


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## διαφορετικός

Hello singvogel,
well, the term "well" is ambiguous as well, as far as I know. It can mean "spring" or "fountain". ( See well - Englisch-Deutsch Übersetzung | PONS )

P.S.: no it does not mean "fountain". But it can mean "spring" or a hole dug to get water. ( See well - Wiktionary ) The German word "Brunnen" misled me.


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