Barrow

Pronunciation in accents without the w, English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_/r/#Mary.E2.80.93marry.E2.80.93merry_merger, "Mary, marry, merry" merger in accents with the

• UK IPA: /ˈbær.əʊ/
• US enPR: bărʹō, IPA: /ˈbæroÊŠ/
• Rhymes: -ærəʊ

From Middle English berwe, bergh, from Old English beorg ("mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place"), from Proto-Germanic *bergaz ("mountain"), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergʰ- ("height"), from *bʰeregʰ- ("high, elevated"). Cognate with West Frisian berch ("mountain"), Low German Barg ("mountain"), Dutch berg ("mountain"), German Berg ("mountain"), Danish bjerg ("mountain"), Swedish berg ("mountain"), Icelandic berg, bjarg ("rock"), Polish brzeg ("bank, shore"), Russian берег (béreg, "bank, shore, land").

Full definition of barrow

Noun

1. (obsolete) A mountain.
2. (chiefly British) A hill.
3. A mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves.
4. (mining) A heap of rubbish, attle, or other such refuse.

Synonyms

• (mound of earth over a grave) tumulus

From Middle English barwe, barewe, barowe, from Old English bearwe ("basket, handbarrow"), from Proto-Germanic *barwÇ­, *barwijÇ­ ("stretcher, bier") (compare Eastern Frisian barwe, Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle High German radebere ("wheelbarrow")), from *beranÄ… ("to bear"). More at bear.

Noun

1. A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.
• 1918, W. B. Maxwell, The Mirror and the Lamp Chapter 7, The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. … It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.
2. (salt works) A wicker case in which salt is put to drain.

Derived terms

• handbarrow
• luggage-barrow
• sack barrow
• wheelbarrow

From Old English bearg.

Noun

1. (obsolete except in scientific use and in some dialects) A castrated boar.