barren
pronunciation
How to pronounce barren in British English:
UK [ˈbærən]
How to pronounce barren in American English:
US [ˈbærən]
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- Noun:
- an uninhabited wilderness that is worthless for cultivation
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- Adjective:
- providing no shelter or sustenance
- not bearing offspring
- incapable of sustaining life
Word Origin
- barren (adj.)
- c. 1200, from Old French baraigne, baraing "sterile, barren" (12c.), perhaps originally brahain, of obscure derivation, perhaps from a Germanic language. In England, originally used of women, of land in France. Of land in English from late 14c. As a noun, mid-13c., "a barren woman;" later of land. BARRENS. Elevated lands, or plains upon which grow small trees, but never timber. [Bartlett, "Dictionary of Americanisms," 1848]
Example
- 1. They have left the land scarred by barren tailings ponds and eroded hilltops .
- 2. Social ostracism , demoralization , and alcoholism comprise the barren netherworld between cultural states .
- 3. It used to be horribly expensive to visit . Now its hauntingly barren landscape is a bargain holiday destination .
- 4. But the other man 's parcel of land remained barren .
- 5. Today , an endless parade of supertankers , along this blue ribbon that cuts through barren desert .