BARRENER

Etymology

Adjective

barrener

comparative form of barren

Noun

barrener (plural barreners)

A barren animal, one that cannot bear young.

Source: Wiktionary


BARREN

Bar"ren, a. Etym: [OE. barein, OF. brehaing, brehaigne, baraigne, F. bréhaigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. brékha, markha, sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.]

1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- She was barren of children. Bp. Hall.

2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; "Barren mountain tracts." Macaulay.

3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. Brilliant but barren reveries. Prescott. Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. Swift.

4. Mentally dull; stupid. Shak. Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which as neither stamens nor pistils.

– Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions.

– Barren Ground bear (Zoöl.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe.

– Barren Ground caribou (Zoöl.), a small reindeer (Rangifer Groenlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.

Bar"ren, n.

1. A tract of barren land.

2. pl.

Definition: Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. [Amer.] J. Pickering.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

9 May 2025

RIGHT

(noun) anything in accord with principles of justice; “he feels he is in the right”; “the rightfulness of his claim”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

There are more than 50 countries that export coffee. They are near the equator, where the climate is conducive to producing coffee beans.

coffee icon