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barrio

 - 3 dictionary results

bar⋅ri⋅o

  [bahr-ee-oh, bar-; Sp. bahr-ryaw]
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–noun, plural bar⋅ri⋅os  [bahr-ee-ohz, bar-; Sp. bahr-ryaws] .
1. (in Spain and countries colonized by Spain) one of the divisions into which a town or city, together with the contiguous rural territory, is divided.
2. a part of a large U.S. city, esp. a crowded inner-city area, inhabited chiefly by a Spanish-speaking population.
Origin:
1890–95; < Sp < Ar barrī of open country (barr outside, open country + -ī adj. suffix)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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bar·ri·o   (bä'rē-ō', bār'-)   
n.   pl. bar·ri·os

  1. An urban district or quarter in a Spanish-speaking country.

  2. A chiefly Spanish-speaking community or neighborhood in a U.S. city.


[Spanish, from Arabic barrī, of an open area, from barr, open area; see brr in Semitic roots.]
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

barrio 
1841, "ward of a Spanish or Sp.-speaking city," sometimes also used of rural settlements, from Sp. barrio "district, suburb," from Arabic barriya "open country" (fem.), from barr "outside" (of the city). Main modern sense of "Sp.-speaking district in a U.S. city" is 1939; original reference is to Spanish Harlem in New York City.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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