English Explanatory Dictionary

barn

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle.
  2. A unit of surface area equal to 10⁻²⁸ square metres.
  3. An arena.
  4. A warm and cozy place, especially a bedroom; a roost.
verb
  1. To lay up in a barn.
noun
  1. A child.
name
  1. A diminutive of the male given names Barney, Barnabas, Barnaby, or Barnett.
  2. A unisex given name transferred from the surname; diminutive of Barnard (“surname”).

Pronunciation

[ˈbɑɹn] [ˈbɑɻn] [ˈbaɹn] [ˈbɒən] [ˈbɒɹn] [ˈbɑːn] LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-barn.wav [ˈbäːn] [ˈbɐ̞ːn]

Word forms

barn barns barning barned

Etymology

From Middle English barn, bern, bærn, from Old English bearn, bern, contracted forms of Old English berern, bereærn (“barn, granary”), compound of bere (“barley”) and ærn, ræn (“dwelling, barn”), from Proto-West Germanic *raʀn, from Proto-Germanic *razną (compare Old Norse rann), from pre-Germanic *h₁rh̥₁-s-nó-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁erh₁- (“to rest”). More at rest and barley. For the use as a unit of surface area, see w:Barn (unit) § Etymology.

Synonyms

imbarn bairn

Related words

Barns Green

Derived words

around Robin Hood's barn attobarn barnboard barnburner barn burner barnburning barn cat barn coat barn dance barn dancing barndominium barndoor barn door barn doors barn egg barn find barnfloor barnful barnless barn-like barnlike barnmate barn owl barnraising barn-raising barn raising barn red Barns Green barnstar barn-star barn star barnstorm barnstormer barnstorming barn swallow barnwood barnyard Besses o' th' Barn big as a barn bit by a barn mouse born in a barn bus barn carbarn car barn close the barn door after the horse has bolted cowbarn Dutch barn embarn femtobarn fire barn haybarn horsebarn housebarn house-barn house barn imbarn kilobarn Long Barn megabarn microbarn
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