English
barrel
Barrel comes from Old French baril ‘small barrel’.
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400baril‘small barrel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barel
- Englishearliest quotation 1611barrel
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400baril‘small barrel’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500barel
- Englishearliest quotation 1611barrel
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “And ſhe ſaid, As the Lord thy God liueth,…”
The story
An attempt to link baril to Old French barre (‘bar, bolt’) (compare Medieval Latin barra (‘bar, rod’)) via assumed Vulgar Latin *barrīculum meets the phonological requirement, but fails to connect the word semantically. The alternative connection to Frankish *baril, *beril or Gothic *𐌱𐌴𐍂𐌹𐌻𐍃 (*bērils, “container for transport”), from Proto-Germanic *barilaz, *bērilaz (‘barrel, jug, container’), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (‘to carry, transport’), is more plausible as it connects not only the form of the word but also the sense; equivalent to bear + -le.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
different, offer, difference, birth, transfer, reference, broad, suffer, bear, translation, prefer, fortune, bread, burden, extraordinary, relative, differ, frustration, translate, fury, relation, referendum, fertility, relate, borne, bore, breeze, fertile, referee, berth, broom, phosphate, extravagant, barn, baron, bark, phosphorus, euphoria, defer, confer, 157 more
through Vulgar Latin *barra ‘barrier’
through Old French barre ‘bar, bolt’
Today it means
noun A round (cylindrical) vessel, such as a cask, of greater length than breadth, and bulging in the middle, made of staves bound with hoops, and having flat ends (heads). The word is sometimes applied to a similar cylindrical container made of metal, usually called a drum.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Old French baril / barrel