barrenadj.n.
/ˈbarən/, /ˈbarn̩/, U.S. /ˈbɛrən/ A. adj.
I. Literal senses. Opposed to fertile.
1. Of a woman: Bearing no children; without issue, childless.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > infertility > [adjective]
yelda1100
barrenc1200
geldc1225
untudderya1325
unfruitinga1400
infecundc1420
unfruitfula1425
fruitlessa1513
infertile1598
abortive1601
sterile1612
effete1621
deaf1633
improlifical1646
subventaneous1652
improlifica1661
unprolific1672
unfructifying1827
subfertile1846
agenesic1864
eggless1904
shy1905
radiosterilized1960
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 133 Þe wimman was barrage [? barraigne], swo þat heo ne mihte for unkinde hauen no child.
a1250 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Nero) (1952) 70 Al were he þuruh miracle of barain iboren.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Fairf. 14) l. 2600 Sare..sayde til abraham.. I am baren [Vesp. geld].
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 16655 Þe baraigne blisced sal man call.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Trin. Cambr.) l. 12257 Þe bareyn [Vesp. vnfruitand] shal hir fruyt fynde.
1484 W. Caxton tr. G. de la Tour-Landry Bk. Knight of Tower (1971) lxix. 99 Fenenna scorned..Anna, and called her berhayn.
c1540 J. Bellenden in tr. H. Boece Hyst. & Cron. Scotl. sig. Avj The barant wiue Appeiris ȝoung.
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream i. i. 72 In shady cloyster, mew'd To liue a barraine sister all your life. View more context for this quotation
1751 J. Jortin Serm. (1771) I. ii. 22 His wife Sarah being barren.
2.
a. Of animals: Not bearing, not pregnant at the usual season.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > infertility > [adjective] > not pregnant or fertilized
barrenc1400
impregnanta1659
unimpregnated1744
unimpregnated1800
unimpregnate1834
empty1858
unfecundated1858
infecundated1864
unfertilized1893
c1400 (?c1390) Sir Gawain & Green Knight (1940) l. 1320 To hunt..at hyndeȝ barayne.
c1400 Ywaine & Gaw. 2027 Sone he met a barayn da.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 84 So there be some barren Trouts, that are good in Winter. View more context for this quotation
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 622 A barren cow, the stateliest of the Isle.
1882 Somerset Co. Gaz. 18 Mar. (advt.) Cow and calf, barreners, barren heifers.
b. Of male animals: Sterile, castrated.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > domestic animal > [adjective] > of livestock > castrated
barren1617
1617 J. Minsheu Ἡγεμὼν είς τὰς γλῶσσας: Ductor in Linguas 872 A boare hogge made a barren hogge..a libd or gelded hogge, porcus castratus.
3. Of trees or plants: Without fruit or seed. (Sometimes specifically, as in Barren Strawberry, a strawberry-like plant bearing only a dry seed.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by growth or development > defined by poor growth > [adjective] > not fruitful or sterile
barrenc1405
bearless1612
infructuous1615
sterile1626
acarpous1871
ablastous1878
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1119 Knotty, knarry, bareyne trees olde.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Aveneron, barren oates.
1597 J. Gerard Herball ii. 397 Barren welde hath a thicke wooddie roote.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 306 Rise in the real price of barren timber, in consequence of the improvement of land. View more context for this quotation
1861 A. Pratt Flowering Plants & Ferns Great Brit. I. 9 Flowers..which have stamens only, are said to be barren.
1878 B. Taylor Prince Deukalion i. ii. 23 The barren bough hung apples to the sun.
4.
a. Of land: Producing little or no vegetation; not fertile, sterile, unproductive, bare. So of mines, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > productiveness > unproductiveness > [adjective]
unbearingc825
deafc897
westyOE
wastumlessc975
wilderna1050
drya1340
gelda1350
barren1377
unfructuousa1382
poora1387
ungreenc1400
infecundc1420
farrow1494
fruitlessa1513
unfruitful1531
sterile1552
hungry1577
penurious1594
unfertile1596
infertile1598
howling1611
ungenitureda1616
arid1656
infecundous1661
ungendering1706
yeld1721
unproductive1725
infructuose1727
ungenerative1733
fallow1791
nihili-parturient1812
dowf1824
wastec1825
non-productive1830
unreproductive1836
infructuous1860
unvintaged1869
increative1877
ablastemic1881
submarginal1895
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [adjective] > barren or desert
barren1377
desert1393
bleaka1552
blunt1553
foodless1581
bleach1598
landless1606
desertuous1632
bald1642
bleaky1687
parsimonious1713
Saharan1849
deserty1891
Saharic1892
Saharian1897
desertic1936
scalded1936
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [adjective] > infertile
unbearingc825
geasonOE
unkindc1330
barren1377
unfructuousa1382
poora1387
leanc1420
exile?1440
salt1535
unfruitful?1542
sterile1572
dead1577
unlusty1580
queasy1593
heartless1594
unfertile1596
emacerated1610
sapless1655
unprolific1672
uncivil1676
ungrateful1681
worn1681
teemless1687
unproductive1725
poorish1767
ill-conditioned1796
scanty1797
rammelly1808
starve-acre1891
1377 W. Langland Piers Plowman B. xviii. 106 Ne no lond tylye But al bareyne be.
c1420 Pallad. on Husb. i. 169 In bareine lande to sette or foster vynes.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. Prol. 41 Bewte was lost, and barrand schew the landis.
1551 W. Turner Herball (1568) F ij a Gotes bearde in barune places hath but a short stalke.
1614 W. Raleigh Hist. World i. ii. xii. §3. 413 Land..exceeding stony and barraine.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 298 The most fertile mine then known may be more barren than any that was wrought before the discovery of the mines of America. View more context for this quotation
1848 J. S. Mill Princ. Polit. Econ. ii. ii. §5 One of the barrennest soils in the world.
b. Barren Grounds, the district lying between Hudson Bay and Mackenzie River in Canada, used attributively in Barren-Ground bear (see quots.); Barren-Ground caribou, Barren-Ground reindeer, any of the several varieties of reindeer found in the Barren Grounds and Greenland, esp. Rangifer arcticus and R. grœnlandicus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Unguiculata or clawed mammal > family Ursidae (bear) > [noun] > genus Ursus > ursus arctos > other types of
Barren-Ground bear1829
snow bear1869
Kodiak1899
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > group Ruminantia (sheep, goats, cows, etc.) > types of deer > [noun] > genus Rangifer (reindeer) > varieties of
Barren-Ground caribou1829
Barren-Ground reindeer1836
1691 Kelsey in Doughty & Martin Papers 23 Aug. (1929) 13 Now ye manner of their hunting these Beast on ye Barren ground is..they surround them.
1781 Cumberland House Jrnls. (1952) 226 The Indians lying Dead about the Barren Ground like rotten sheep.
1825 J. Richardson in Parry's Jrnl. 2nd Voy. App. 329 The cetrariæ, corniculariæ, and cenomyces, which clothe the barren-grounds like a carpet. [Note] The Barren Grounds (‘Hi lichene obsiti campi quos Terram Damnatam diceret peregrinus’, Flor. Lapp., p. 374).
1829 J. Richardson Fauna Boreali-Americana I. 23 I have given this one the ad interim name of Barren-ground Bear, until its difference from, or identity with, the Ursus arctos of Linnæus be fully established.
1829 J. Richardson Fauna Boreali-Americana I. 241 Cervus tarandus var. α, arctica. Barren Ground Caribou.
1836 R. King Narr. Journey Arctic Ocean I. vi. 149 The barren-ground rein-deer, or caribou..is of small size compared to the other deer.
1877 Encycl. Brit. VII. 25/1 The Barren Ground Caribou, and the Woodland Caribou.
1897 Lydekker in Proc. Zool. Soc. 425 Ursus arctus Richardsoni—Barren-Ground Bear... This Bear..differs from the Grizzly in the shorter skull.
5. Void of vital germs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > [adjective] > devoid of or harmful to
barren1879
abiological1981
1879 J. Tyndall Fragm. Sci. (ed. 6) II. xiii. 333 An infusion found to be barren by six months' exposure to moteless air.
II. Figurative senses.
6. Bare of intellectual wealth, destitute of attraction or interest, poor, meagre, jejune, arid, dry.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > literature > style of language or writing > weakness or feebleness > [adjective] > bald
barrena1387
baldc1390
meagre1539
barec1540
starved1604
poor1842
poverty-stricken1865
a1387 J. Trevisa tr. R. Higden Polychron. (St. John's Cambr.) (1865) I. Rolls Ser. 11 I..dradde, after so noble spekers..to putte forþ my bareyn speche.
1430 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. v Thy wyt was to barrayne.
1549 J. Olde tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Eph. Prol. E ij The kynges maiesties playne Englyshe subiectes vnderstande none other but theyr owne natiue barayne tongue.
1598 R. Barret Theorike & Pract. Mod. Warres Pref. 5 Discourses..not so barraine, but you may reape some good fruit from them.
1782 V. Knox Ess. (1819) I. xlvii. 260 The barrenest periods of English literature.
1846 G. Grote Hist. Greece I. i. iv. 125 A list of barren names fills up the interval.
7. Unproductive of results; fruitless, unprofitable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > harm or detriment > disadvantage > uselessness > uselessness, vanity, or futility > [adjective] > useless or unproductive
fruitless1340
unfructuousc1380
unfruitous1382
unfruitfula1400
barren1549
blanka1556
effectless1594
issueless1611
infructuous1615
sterile1642
thorny ground1657
unproductivea1676
infructuose1727
resultless1832
irresultive1850
unresultive1850
unprocreant1851
1549 M. Coverdale et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. II. 1 Cor. xv. f. xxxixv I suffered not hys grace in me to be either idle or baraine.
1665 R. Boyle Occas. Refl. Introd. Pref. sig. a1v Who may chance to have either Barrenner Fancy's, or more unpractis'd Pens, than even I had.
1681 J. Dryden Absalom & Achitophel 10 Barren Praise..that Gaudy Flower, Fair only to the sight.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Barren money is used, in the civil law, for that which is not put out to interest.
1779 J. Moore View Society & Manners France (1789) I. viii. 55 They could shed a few barren tears at a tragedy.
1877 J. B. Mozley Univ. Serm. (ed. 3) i. 12 A barren and unrepaid attachment, a wasted affection.
8. Of persons: Mentally unproductive; unresponsive, dull, yielding no mental fruit.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > lack of understanding > stupidity, dullness of intellect > [adjective]
sloweOE
stuntc960
dullOE
hardOE
stuntlyc1000
sotc1050
dillc1175
dulta1225
simplea1325
heavy1340
astonedc1374
sheepishc1380
dull-witteda1387
lourd1390
steerishc1411
ass-likea1425
brainless?a1439
deafc1440
sluggishc1450
short-witted1477
obtuse1509
peakish1519
wearish1519
deaf, or dumb as a beetle1520
doileda1522
gross1526
headlessa1530
stulty1532
ass-headed1533
pot-headed1533
stupid?1541
sheep's head1542
doltish1543
dumpish1545
assish1548
blockish1548
slow-witted1548
blockheaded1549
surd1551
dull-headed1552
hammer-headed1552
skit-brained?1553
buzzardly1561
witless1562
log-headeda1566
assy1566
sottish1566
dastardly1567
stupidious1567
beetle-headed1570
calvish1570
bluntish1578
cod's-headed1578
grout-headed1578
bedaft1579
dull-pated1580
blate1581
buzzard-like1581
long-eared1582
dullard1583
woodena1586
duncical1588
leaden-headed1589
buzzard1592
dorbellical1592
dunstical1592
heavy-headeda1593
shallow-brained1592
blunt-witted1594
mossy1597
Bœotian1598
clay-brained1598
fat1598
fat-witted1598
knotty-pated1598
stupidous1598
wit-lost1599
barren1600
duncifiedc1600
lourdish1600
stockish1600
thick1600
booby1603
leaden-pated1603
partless1603
thin-headed1603
leaden-skulledc1604
blockhead1606
frost-brained1606
ram-headed1608
beef-witted1609
insulse1609
leaden-spirited1609
asininec1610
clumse1611
blockheadly1612
wattle-headed1613
flata1616
logger-headeda1616
puppy-headeda1616
shallow-patedc1616
thick-brained1619
half-headed1621
buzzard-blinda1625
beef-brained1628
toom-headed1629
thick-witted1634
woollen-witted1635
squirrel-headed1637
clod-pated1639
lean-souled1639
muddy-headed1642
leaden-witteda1645
as sad as any mallet1645
under-headed1646
fat-headed1647
half-witted1647
insipid1651
insulsate1652
soft-headed1653
thick-skulleda1657
muddish1658
non-intelligent1659
whey-brained1660
sap-headed1665
timber-headed1666
leather-headeda1668
out of (one's) tree1669
boobily1673
thoughtless1673
lourdly1674
logger1675
unintelligenta1676
Bœotic1678
chicken-brained1678
under-witted1683
loggerhead1684
dunderheaded1692
unintelligible1694
buffle-headed1697
crassicc1700
numbskulled1707
crassous1708
doddy-polled1708
haggis-headed1715
niddy-noddy1722
muzzy1723
pudding-headed1726
sumphish1728
pitcher-souleda1739
duncey1743
hebete1743
chuckheaded1756
dumb1756
duncely1757
imbecile1766
mutton-headed1768
chuckle-headed1770
jobbernowl1770
dowfarta1774
boobyish1778
wittol1780
staumrel1787
opaquec1789
stoopid1791
mud-headed1793
borné1795
muzzy-headed1798
nog-headed1800
thick-headed1801
gypit1804
duncish1805
lightweight1809
numbskull1814
tup-headed1816
chuckle-pate1820
unintellectuala1821
dense1822
ninnyish1822
dunch1825
fozy1825
potato-headed1826
beef-headed1828
donkeyish1831
blockheadish1833
pinheaded1837
squirrel-minded1837
pumpkin-headed1838
tomfoolish1838
dundering1840
chicken-headed1842
like a bump on a log1842
ninny-minded1849
numbheadeda1852
nincompoopish1852
suet-brained1852
dolly1853
mullet-headed1853
sodden1853
fiddle-headed1854
numb1854
bovine1855
logy1859
crass1861
unsmart1861
off his chump1864
wooden-headed1865
stupe1866
lean-minded1867
duffing1869
cretinous1871
doddering1871
thick-head1873
doddling1874
stupido1879
boneheaded1883
woolly-headed1883
leaden-natured1889
suet-headed1890
sam-sodden1891
dopey1896
turnip-headed1898
bonehead1903
wool-witted1905
peanut-headed1906
peanut-brained1907
dilly1909
torpid-minded1909
retardate1912
nitwitted1917
meat-headed1918
mug1922
cloth-headed1925
loopy1925
nitwit1928
lame-brained1929
dead from the neck up1930
simpy1932
nail-headed1936
square-headed1936
dingbats1937
pinhead1939
dim-witted1940
pea-brained1942
clueless1943
lobotomized1943
retarded1949
pointy-headed1950
clottish1952
like a stunned mullet1953
silly (or crazy) as a two-bob watch1954
out to lunch1955
pin-brained1958
dozy1959
eejity1964
out of one's tiny mind1965
doofus1967
twitty1967
twittish1969
twatty1975
twattish1976
blur1977
dof1979
goofus1981
dickheaded1991
dickish1991
numpty1992
cockish1996
the mind > emotion > suffering > feeling of weariness or tedium > [adjective] > wearisome or tedious
dreicha1300
alangec1330
joylessa1400
tedious1412
wearifulc1454
weary1465
laboriousa1475
tiresome?a1513
irksome1513
wearisome1530
woodena1566
irkful1570
flat1573
leaden1593
barren1600
soaked1600
unlively1608
dulla1616
irking1629
drearisome1633
drear1645
plumbous1651
fatigable1656
dreary1667
uncurious1685
unenlivened1692
blank1726
disinteresting1737
stupid1748
stagnant1749
trist?1756
vegetable1757
borish1766
uninteresting1769
unenlivening1774
oorie1787
wearying1796
subjectless1803
yawny1805
wearing1811
stuffy1813
sloomy1820
tediousome1823
arid1827
lacklustrous1834
boring1839
featureless1839
slow1840
sodden1853
ennuying1858
dusty1860
cabbagy1861
old1864
mouldy1876
yawnful1878
drab1880
dehydrated1884
interestless1886
jay1889
boresome1895
stodgy1895
stuffy1895
yawnsome1900
sludgy1901
draggy1922
blah1937
nowhere1940
drack1945
stupefactive1970
schleppy1978
wack1986
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. ii. 13 The shallowest thickskinne, of that barraine sort. View more context for this quotation
1603 W. Shakespeare Hamlet iii. ii. 40 Will laugh themselues, to set on some Quantitie of barren spectators to laugh with them.
1779 S. Johnson J. Philips in Pref. Wks. Eng. Poets IV. 10 He was in company silent and barren.
1867 T. Carlyle Reminisc. (1881) I. 324 The stupidest and barrenest of living mortals.
9. With of, in all preceding senses.
ΚΠ
c1375 Eng. Wycliffite Serm. in Sel. Wks. (1869) II. 278 Þou..þat art barayne of goostly children.
1413 J. Lydgate Pilgr. of Sowle iv. xx Of ioye am I barayne.
a1549 A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (1870) 198 These countreys be baryn of wine and corne.
1633 Bp. J. Hall Plaine Explic. Hard Texts i. 374 Have I been barren of my favours to you.
1710 R. Steele Tatler No. 196. ⁋5 Hearts barren of Kindness.
1856 J. A. Froude Hist. Eng. (1858) I. ii. 154 The league with France..had been barren of results.
B. n. [the adjective used absol.] † 1. A barren woman or animal. Obsolete.† 2. Specific term for a drove of mules. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > biology > biological processes > procreation or reproduction > infertility > [noun] > creature
barrenc1420
Cf. 1230 and 1340 in A 1. ]
c1420 Anturs Arth. iv Vndur boes thay byde..To beker at the barrens.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > [noun] > hybrid horse and ass > mule > group of
barren1486
1486 Bk. St. Albans F vj a A Baren of Mulis.
3. A tract of barren land; spec. applied in North America to: (a) elevated plains on which grow small trees and shrubs, but no timber, classed as oak-barrens, pine-barrens, etc., according to the trees growing on them; also attributive as barrens oak n. (see quot. 1832); (b) in Kentucky, to certain really fertile tracts in the carboniferous limestone formation; (c) in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (see quot. 1879).
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > [noun] > barren land or desert
desert?c1225
bare1683
slate-land1733
barren1784
mesquite1834
badlands1850
hardscrabble1859
pindan1888
in (also up) the blue1963
wasteland1966
1784 T. Jefferson in J. Sparks Corr. Amer. Revol. (1853) IV. 63 A mountainous barren which can never be inhabited.
1832 D. J. Browne Sylva Americana 269 In New Jersey and Pennsylvania it is called Barrens Oak, and Black Jack Oak in Maryland and the more southern states.
1850 C. Lyell 2nd Visit U.S. (ed. 2) II. 12 I had sometimes to put up with rough quarters in the pine-barrens.
1859 C. Kingsley Life & Lett. II. 100 To have the sewage conveyed..to fertilize the barrens of Surrey and Berkshire.
1877 J. A. Allen Amer. Bisons 460 The so-called Barrens of Kentucky, the southward extension of the Wabash prairies.
1879 Ld. Dunraven in 19th Cent. July 54 A barren..means in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick an open marshy space in the forest, sometimes so soft as to be almost impassable, at other times composed of good solid hard peat.
Compounds
C1. Parasynthetic, as barren-brained, barren-spirited, barren-witted, barren-wombed; and as complement, as barren-beaten.
ΚΠ
1596 M. Drayton Mortimeriados 117 Renewe this wearie barren-wombed earth.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Julius Caesar (1623) iv. i. 36 A barren spirited Fellow. View more context for this quotation
1641 I. L. Mournefull Epit. Iohn Rogers (single sheet) Vnfruitfull barren heartednesse.
1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 58 A barren-brained blockhead.
1859 Ld. Tennyson Elaine in Idylls of King 155 He left the barren-beaten thoroughfare.
1870 R. W. Emerson Society & Solitude 204 What a barren-witted pate is mine!
C2.
barren privet n. Rhamnus Alaternus, an evergreen shrub of Southern Europe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > trees and shrubs > shrubs > non-British shrubs > [noun] > of the Mediterranean or Southern Europe > silver-bush
alatern1607
barren privet1611
evergreen privet1629
bitumen trefoil1658
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Alaterne, fruitlesse, or barren Priuet.
1866 J. Lindley & T. Moore Treasury Bot. II. 928/2 Privet, Barren, Rhamnus Alaternus.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† barrenv.
Obsolete.
To make barren, unfruitful, or sterile; to exhaust or impoverish (land); = barrenize v.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > wild or uncultivated land > make wild or uncultivated [verb (transitive)] > make barren or desert
barren1581
embarren1628
barrenize1652
sterilize1695
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [verb (transitive)] > render infertile
barren1581
pill1594
disfertile1606
peel1610
embarren1628
unfructify1628
barrenize1652
mine1937
1581 A. Anderson Serm. Paules Crosse 69 So to barren the soyle rounde aboute them.
1593 T. Nashe Christs Teares f. 78 Barrayning theyr wombes by drugges.
1652 W. Blith Eng. Improver Improved ii. 13 And this I charge as a great prejudice, and may be as a barrenning the land.
1725 R. Bradley Chomel's Dictionaire Œconomique at Stock Gilly They may be set again in the same Earth, after..mixing Sand therewith to Barren it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1885; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
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adj.n.c1200
v.1581- raising
- raising agent
- raising bee
- raising cloth
- raising cord
- raising dinner
- raising gig
- raising gin
- raising hammer
- raising machine
- raising motion
- raising plate
- raising room
- raising tool
- raising vat
- raising-board
- raising-knife
- raising-pair
- raising-piece
- raising-wheel
- raisingboard
- raisingknife
- raisingpair
- raisingpiece
- raisings