English
bar
Bar comes from Middle English barre, from Old French barre ‘beam, barrier’, from Vulgar Latin *barra, of uncertain origin.
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*barrareconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400barre‘beam, bar, gate, barrier’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1675bar
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*barrareconstructed
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400barre‘beam, bar, gate, barrier’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
- Englishearliest quotation 1675bar
Earliest quotation: 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […]: “Muſt I new bars to my own joy create?”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
different, offer, difference, birth, reference, transfer, prefer, broad, bread, relative, suffer, translation, relation, fortune, relate, burden, bear, extraordinary, differ, referendum, frustration, bore, translate, fury, breeze, referee, fertility, borne, fertile, berth, broom, phosphate, extravagant, fret, phosphorus, euphoria, defer, confer, infer, baron, 156 more
through Vulgar Latin *barra ‘barrier’
through Old French barre ‘beam, bar, gate, barrier’
Another origin of bar
- Medieval Latinc. 600–1500barrare‘to bar’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400barrer
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barren‘to bar’
- Englishtodaybar
Another origin of bar
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*gʷreh₂-‘heavy’root as named
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEβάροςbáros‘weight’
- Englishtodaybar
Borrowed from Ancient Greek βάρος (báros, “weight”), coined circa 1900.
Today it means
noun A solid, more or less rigid object of metal or wood with a uniform cross-section smaller than its length.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Vulgar Latin *barra / bar