bar
English has two main words spelled bar: the rod or barrier, with its many extended senses, and the unit of pressure, from Greek.[1][2][3]
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /bɑː/, US /bɑːr/[4]
bar1 rod, barrier
Etymology
The rod is inherited from Middle English barre,[5][3] borrowed from Old French barre (“beam, bar, gate, barrier”),[6][5] from Vulgar Latin *barra (“bar, barrier”),[6][5] of unknown origin.[2][1][7] Some derive it from a Gaulish *barros “the bushy end”, but the OED regards this as discredited because it does not suit the sense.[6] Welsh bar and Irish barra are said to be from English, and German Barre and Russian bar from Medieval Latin or Romance.[6] The verb is from Old French barrer, from barre.[5][3] The preposition, “except”, is the imperative of the verb, probably on the model of except and save.[2]
Earliest recorded meaning
A barrier: probably before 1200;[5] a bar to fasten a door or gate, late 12th century[6] or before 1300,[5] and a metal bar or pole by 1364.[5] The verb, “to fasten with a bar”, is from about 1280.[5]
Semantic evolution
Its earliest use was for fastening a gate or door, and it soon named various kinds of barrier.[7] As the place where the business of a court was done, bar was synonymous with court by the early 14th century,[6] after the railing around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood.[7][6] At the Inns of Court a bar separated benchers from the hall, and students were “called to the bar”;[6][7] the whole body of barristers, the legal profession, is the Bar from the 1550s.[6][7] A counter over which drink was served is from the 1590s, and hence the room or place itself.[6][8] A bank of sand across a harbor mouth is from the 1580s,[6] and anything that hinders is a bar from the 1530s.[6] The verb's sense “to prohibit” is from the mid-16th century,[7] and the preposition “except” from the early 18th century (1714),[2][9] as in bar none.[7] A bar of soap is by 1833 and of candy by 1906.[6] Bar graph is from 1925, bar code from 1963, and behind bars by 1934.[6]
Timeline
- before 1200 – a barrier.[5]
- c. 1280 – verb, to fasten with a bar.[5]
- early 14th century – a court of law.[6]
- 1364 – a metal bar.[5]
- 1530s – an obstruction.[6]
- 1550s – the legal profession.[6]
- 1580s – a sandbank.[6]
- 1590s – a counter serving drink; a tavern.[6]
- 1714 – preposition, except.[9]
- 1833 – a bar of soap.[6]
- 1963 – bar code.[6]
Modern meaning
Noun
- A long, straight, rigid piece of metal or wood, used as a fastener, support or barrier.
- A solid oblong block of a substance: a bar of soap.
- A place serving alcoholic drinks; the counter where they are served.
- Something that prevents or obstructs; a barrier.
- the Bar: The legal profession; lawyers collectively, especially barristers.
- The railing in a court of law, where a prisoner stands.
- (music) One of the equal units into which a piece is divided by vertical lines; a measure.
- A band or stripe of colour.
- A bank of sand or gravel across the mouth of a harbor or river.
Verb
- To fasten with a bar.
- To block or obstruct.
- To exclude or prohibit.
- To mark with stripes.
Preposition
- Except; excluding: bar none.
Word family
- barring
- barred
- crowbar
- handlebar
- sidebar
- barroom
- bartender
- barman
- disbar
bar2 unit of pressure
Etymology
The unit of pressure is from Ancient Greek βάρος (báros, “weight”),[1][2] through German, according to Merriam-Webster.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
A unit of pressure equal to one dyne per square centimetre: 1903.[10]
Semantic evolution
In 1910 it was redefined, in meteorology, as a unit of barometric pressure of a million dynes per square centimetre,[10] and it now equals 100,000 pascals, about 0.987 of an atmosphere.[2] The millibar, a thousandth of a bar, is used on weather maps.[1]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Noun
- A unit of pressure equal to 100,000 pascals.
Word family
- millibar
- isobar
Related words
- barrier
- barrister
- embarrass
- barricade
- barometer
- baritone
Usage notes
Other words spelled bar include a large European fish, the meagre, from French bar (1724);[10][2] the American mosquito bar, a mosquito net, from Louisiana French boire;[2][3] and an old by-form of baron.[10] In Scots a bar was an infant's flannel waistcoat.[11]
References
- ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)