The Bormida (''Bormia'' in

Piedmontese language Piedmontese ( ; autonym: or ; ) is a language spoken by some 2,000,000 people mostly in Piedmont, a region of Northwest Italy. Although considered by most linguists a separate Romance languages, language, in Italy it is often mistakenly regar ...

) is a river of north-west

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Toponymy

The hydronym ''Bormida'' derives from the pre-Roman Ligurian proto-form ''*bormo'' ('warm or bubbling water'), also linked to the names of the gods of the springs ''Bormō'' and ''Bormānus''. Similar hydronyms are present in the region: the river

Borbera The Borbera (''Borbëa'' in Ligurian or ''Borbaja'' in Piedmontese) is a major '' torrente'' (a stream whose flow is marked by a high degree of seasonal variation) of the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont. Geography It beg ...

and the river Borbore, but also the town of

Bormio Bormio (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' with a population of about 4,100 located in the Province of Sondrio, Lombardy region of the Alps in northern Italy. The centre of the upper Valtellina valley, it is a popular winter sports resort. It was the ...

Lombardy The Lombardy Region (; ) is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in northern Italy and has a population of about 10 million people, constituting more than one-sixth of Italy's population. Lombardy is ...

know since the ancient times for the thermal waters and the town of Burbons les bains in France known for the same reason. The root ''*borm-'' itself could have pre-Indo-European originsFrancesco Perono Cacciafoco. 2015
Pre-Indo-European Relics: The *borm- Root in the European Pre-Latin Context
''Acta Linguistica: Journal for Theoretical Linguistics'', 9, 2, pp. 57-69. and, therefore, could be connected with the lost language (or languages) of Prehistoric inhabitants of Europe who occupied Northern Italy before the possible arrival of the Indo-Europeans.

Geography

The Bormida rises in

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

from the Rocca Barbena (close to Colle Scravaion) as Bormida di Millesimo'', and flows at first through

and then through

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

. After converging with the Bormida di Spigno near Bistagno it joins the

Tanaro The Tanaro (; ; ; ) is a long river in northwestern Italy. The river begins in the Ligurian Alps, near the border with France, and is the most significant right-side tributary to the Po in terms of length, size of drainage basin (partly Alpi ...

, of which it is the major tributary, north-east of

Alessandria Alessandria (; ) is a city and commune in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. It is also the largest municipality of the region. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, ...

References

* Rivers of Italy Rivers of the Province of Savona Rivers of the Province of Cuneo Rivers of the Province of Asti Rivers of the Province of Alessandria Rivers of the Alps Rivers of the Apennines {{Italy-river-stub