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bar·ley1 
Audio Help [bahr-lee] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [bahr-lee] Pronunciation Key –noun
| 1. | a widely distributed cereal plant belonging to the genus Hordeum, of the grass family, having awned flowers that grow in tightly bunched spikes, with three small additional spikes at each node. |
| 2. | the grain of this plant, used as food and in making beer, ale, and whiskey. |
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
Barley
To learn more about Barley visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
bar·ley2
Audio Help [bahr-lee] Pronunciation Key
Audio Help [bahr-lee] Pronunciation Key –noun, plural -leys. Scot. and North England.
| a truce or quarter, esp. in children's games; parley. |
[Origin: 1805–15; prob. to be identified with Scots barley, burley, birlie local customary law (Compare birleyman arbiter, birleycourt neighborhood court), var. of birlaw, ML birlawe, birelegia, birelag < ON *býjarlagu, equiv. to býjar gen. sing. of býr town (cf. bower1, byre) + *lagu law1; cf. by-law]
] | Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
| bar·ley
Audio Help (bär'lē) Pronunciation Key
n.
[Middle English barli, from Old English bærlic; see bhares- in Indo-European roots.] |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
barley
O.E. bærlic, originally an adj., "of barley," from bere "barley" (from P.Gmc. *bariz, *baraz) + -lic "body, like." First element is related to O.N. barr "barley," and cognate with L. far (gen. farris) "coarse grain, meal." In Britain and U.S., the grain is used mainly to prepare liquor, hence personification as John Barleycorn (1620) in popular ballad, and many now-obsolete figures of speech, e.g. to wear a barley cap (16c.) "to be drunk."
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| barley | |
noun | |
| 1. | a grain of barley |
| 2. | cultivated since prehistoric times; grown for forage and grain |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
barley [ˈbaːli] noun
a type of grain used for food and for making beer and whisky
Example: The farmer has harvested his barley.
See also: barley sugarExample: The farmer has harvested his barley.
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Barley
Bar"ley\, n. [OE. barli, barlich, AS. b[ae]rlic; bere barley + l[=i]c (which is prob. the same as E. like, adj., or perh. a form of AS. le[=a]c leek). AS. bere is akin to Icel, barr barley, Goth. barizeins made of barley, L. far spelt; cf. W. barlys barley, bara bread. ?92. Cf. Farina, 6th Bear.] (Bot.) A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky. Barley bird (Zo["o]l.), the siskin. Barley sugar, sugar boiled till it is brittle (formerly with a decoction of barley) and candied. Barley water, a decoction of barley, used in medicine, as a nutritive and demulcent.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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