bar·ren
Audio Help [bar-uh
n] Pronunciation Key
—Related forms
Audio Help [bar-uh
n] Pronunciation Key –adjective
–noun
| 1. | not producing or incapable of producing offspring; sterile: a barren woman. |
| 2. | unproductive; unfruitful: barren land. |
| 3. | without capacity to interest or attract: a barren period in American architecture. |
| 4. | mentally unproductive; dull; stupid. |
| 5. | not producing results; fruitless: a barren effort. |
| 6. | destitute; bereft; lacking (usually fol. by of): barren of tender feelings. |
| 7. | Usually, barrens. level or slightly rolling land, usually with a sandy soil and few trees, and relatively infertile. |
[Origin: 1200–50; ME bareyn(e), barayn(e) < AF barai(gn)e, OF brahaigne (F bréhaigne (of animals) sterile), akin to Sp breña scrubby, uncultivated ground, Upper It barena land along a lagoon covered by high water; appar < Celtic, cf. Welsh braenar, Ir branar fallow land, but derivational details unclear
]
] —Related forms
bar·ren·ly, adverb
bar·ren·ness, noun
—Synonyms 1. childless, unprolific, infertile. 2. infertile, depleted, waste. See bare1. 5. ineffectual, ineffective.
—Antonyms 1–6. fertile.
| Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006. |
barren
To learn more about barren visit Britannica.com
| © 2008 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. |
| bar·ren
Audio Help (bār'ən) Pronunciation Key
adj.
n. A tract of unproductive land, often with a scrubby growth of trees. Often used in the plural. [Middle English barreine, from Old French brahaigne, perhaps of Germanic origin.] bar'ren·ly adv., bar'ren·ness n. |
| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
barren
c.1300, from O.Fr. baraigne "barren" (12c.), perhaps originally brahain, of obscure derivation, perhaps from a Gmc. language. Originally used of women in England, of land in France.
| Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper |
| barren | |
adjective | |
| 1. | providing no shelter or sustenance; "bare rocky hills"; "barren lands"; "the bleak treeless regions of the high Andes"; "the desolate surface of the moon"; "a stark landscape" [syn: bare] |
| 2. | not bearing offspring; "a barren woman"; "learned early in his marriage that he was sterile" |
| 3. | completely wanting or lacking; "writing barren of insight"; "young recruits destitute of experience"; "innocent of literary merit"; "the sentence was devoid of meaning" |
noun | |
| 1. | an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation; "the barrens of central Africa"; "the trackless wastes of the desert" |
| WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University. |
barren [ˈbӕrən] adjective
not able to produce crops, fruit, young etc
Example: barren soil; a barren fruit-tree; a barren woman
Example: barren soil; a barren fruit-tree; a barren woman
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| Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary, © 2000-2006 K Dictionaries Ltd. |
Barren Springs, VA Zip code(s): 24313
Barren County, KY (county, FIPS 9) Location: 36.96044 N, 85.92760 W
Population (1990): 34001 (14202 housing units)
Area: 1271.6 sq km (land), 23.3 sq km (water)
| U.S. Gazetteer, U.S. Census Bureau |
Barren
Bar"ren\, a. [OE. barein, OF. brehaing, fem. brehaigne, baraigne, F. br['e]haigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. br['e]kha[~n], markha[~n], sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.]1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- said of women and female animals. She was barren of children. --Bp. Hall. 2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; ?rile. "Barren mountain tracts." --Macaulay. 3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. Brilliant but barren reveries. --Prescott. Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. --Swift. 4. Mentally dull; stupid. --Shak. Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which as neither stamens nor pistils. Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions. Barren Ground bear (Zo["o]l.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe. Barren Ground caribou (Zo["o]l.), a small reindeer (Rangifer Gr[oe]nlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
Barren
Bar"ren\, n. 1. A tract of barren land. 2. pl. Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. [Amer.] --J. Pickering.| Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc. |
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