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barrens

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Barrons
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bar⋅ren

  [bar-uhn]
–adjective
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.
–noun
7. Usually, barrens. level or slightly rolling land, usually with a sandy soil and few trees, and relatively infertile.
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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 bare 1 . 5. ineffectual, ineffective.

Antonyms:
1–6. fertile.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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Barrons
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bar·ren   (bār'ən)   
adj.  

    1. Not producing offspring.

    2. Incapable of producing offspring.

  2. Lacking vegetation, especially useful vegetation.

  3. Unproductive of results or gains; unprofitable: barren efforts. See Synonyms at futile.

  4. Devoid of something specified: writing barren of insight. See Synonyms at empty.

  5. Lacking in liveliness or interest.

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 © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

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
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: bar·ren
Pronunciation: 'bar-&n
Function: adjective
: incapable of producing offspring —used especially of females or matings —bar·ren·ness /-&n-n&s/ noun
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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barren bar·ren (bār'ən)
adj.

  1. Not producing offspring.

  2. Incapable of producing offspring.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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