barley
pronunciation
How to pronounce barley in British English:
UK [ˈbɑːli]
How to pronounce barley in American English:
US [ˈbɑːrli]
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- Noun:
- a grain of barley
- cultivated since prehistoric times; grown for forage and grain
Word Origin
- barley
- barley: [OE] The Old English word for ‘barley’ was bære or bere. It came from an Indo- European base *bhar- which also gave Latin farīna ‘flour’ (from which English gets farinaceous [17]) and Old Norse farr ‘barley’. Barley (Old English bærlic) was in fact originally an adjective formed from this (like princely based on prince), and it was not until the early twelfth century that it came to be used as a noun. A barn [OE] was originally a building for storing barley. The Old English word ber(e)n was a compound formed from bere and ern or ærn ‘house’ (which may be related to English rest).=> barn, farinaceous, farrago
- barley (n.)
- Old English bærlic, originally an adjective, "of barley," from bere "barley" (from Proto-Germanic *bariz, *baraz) + -lic "body, like." First element is related to Old Norse barr "barley," and cognate with Latin far (genitive farris) "coarse grain, meal;" probably from PIE *bhars- "bristle, point, projection" (see bristle (n.)).
Example
- 1. The original german lagers were made exclusively from barley .
- 2. It usually supplies a third of the world 's barley exports .
- 3. They use their own malted barley and hops imported from germany .
- 4. Neighbouring ukraine is considering export quotas on corn , barley and wheat .
- 5. Instead , they seem to have been used to store wild barley and wild oats .