Burn
Old English birnan ‘be on fire’ and bærnan ‘consume by fire’, both from the same Germanic base; related to German brennen .
wiktionary
From Middle English bernen, birnen, from Old English birnan(“to burn”), metathesis from Proto-West Germanic *brinnan, from Proto-Germanic *brinnaną(“to burn”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrenw- (compare Middle Irish brennim(“drink up”), bruinnim(“bubble up”)), present stem from *bʰrewh₁-, *bʰru- (compare Middle Irish bréo(“flame”), Albanian burth(“Cyclamen hederifolium, mouth burning”), Sanskrit भुरति(bhurati, “moves quickly, twitches, fidgets”)). More at brew.
From Middle English burn, bourne, from Old English burne, burna(“spring, fountain”), Proto-West Germanic *brunnō, from Proto-Germanic *brunnô, *brunō. Cognate with West Frisian boarne, Dutch bron, German Brunnen; also Albanian burim(“spring, fountain”), Ancient Greek φρέαρ(phréar, “well, reservoir”), Old Armenian աղբիւր(ałbiwr, “fount”). Doublet of bourn. More at brew.
etymonline
burn (v.)
early 12c., brennen, "be on fire, be consumed by fire; be inflamed with passion or desire, be ardent; destroy (something) with fire, expose to the action of fire, roast, broil, toast; burn (something) in cooking," of objects, "to shine, glitter, sparkle, glow like fire;" chiefly from Old Norse brenna "to burn, light," and also from two originally distinct Old English verbs: bærnan "to kindle" (transitive) and beornan "be on fire" (intransitive).
All these are from Proto-Germanic *brennanan (causative *brannjanan),source also of Middle Dutch bernen, Dutch branden, Old High German brinnan, German brennen, Gothic -brannjan "to set on fire;" but the ultimate etymology is uncertain. Related: Burned/ burnt (see -ed); burning.
Figurative use (of passions, battle, etc.) was in Old English. Meaning "be hot, radiate heat" is from late 13c. Meaning "produce a burning sensation, sting" is from late 14c. Meaning "cheat, swindle, victimize" is first attested 1650s. In late 18c, slang, burned meant "infected with venereal disease."
To burn one's bridges(behind one) "behave so as to destroy any chance of returning to a status quo" (attested by 1892 in Mark Twain), perhaps ultimately is from reckless cavalry raids in the American Civil War. Of money, to burn a hole in (one's) pocket "affect a person with a desire to spend" from 1850.
Slavic languages have historically used different and unrelated words for the transitive and intransitive senses of "set fire to"/"be on fire:" for example Polish palić/gorzeć, Russian žeč'/gorel.
burn (n.)
c. 1300, "act or operation of burning," from Old English bryne, from the same source as burn (v.). Until mid-16c. the usual spelling was brenne. Meaning "mark or injury made by burning" is from 1520s. Slow burn first attested 1938, in reference to U.S. movie actor Edgar Kennedy (1890-1948), who made it his specialty.
