Etymologically
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barber

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 22 October 2026 at 21:15. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • UK: /ˈbɑːbə/[1]
  • US: /ˈbɑɹ.bɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Anglo-Norman barbour, barber,[2][3][4] from Old French barbeor and barbier,[5][3][2] formed on barbe (“beard”), which continues Latin barba (“beard”).[5][3][6] Etymonline and Klein reconstruct Vulgar Latin *barbātor behind the French noun, which the American Heritage Dictionary gives as Medieval Latin.[3][7][8] According to Barnhart, the modern spelling replaced the older barbour under the influence of barberie (“the barber's trade”);[5] Weekley also points to French barbier and Italian barbiere.[9] In Anglo-Norman barber is found from 1221, also as a surname.[10][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A person who shaves beards and cuts hair as an occupation: c. 1330, in Sir Tristrem.[2] Barnhart dates the form barbour to probably before 1300.[5]

Semantic evolution

Medieval and early modern barbers also acted as surgeons and dentists;[6] London had a Company of Barber-Surgeons from 1461 to 1745, and Weekley derives the bowls of the barber's sign from the bowls once used for blood-letting.[9][6] Johnson (1755) defined a barber simply as a man who shaves the beard.[11] Shakespeare used barber's for the barber's shop (1600) and the verb, to shave or trim, in Antony and Cleopatra (a1616).[2] According to Cresswell, the barber's shop of the 16th and 17th centuries offered music to waiting customers, and barber's music became a byword for bad playing.[12] Later senses include a sheep shearer in Australia (1836) and, chiefly in Canada and New Zealand, a bitter wind that seems to cut the face (1818).[2] In the dialects of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Berkshire and Essex, the verb meant simply to shave.[13]

Timeline

  • before 1300 – barbour, in Sir Tristrem.[5]
  • c. 1330 – a person who shaves and cuts hair.[2]
  • 1600 – barber's, the barber's shop, in Shakespeare.[2]
  • 1605 – verb, to work as a barber.[2]
  • a1616 – verb, to shave or trim someone.[2][14]
  • 1818 – a cutting cold wind.[2]
  • 1836 – (Australia) a sheep shearer.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A person whose work is cutting men's hair and shaving or trimming beards: He goes to the barber every three weeks.
  2. (chiefly Australian) A sheep shearer.

Verb

  1. To cut or trim a person's hair or shave their beard.
  2. To cut or trim closely, as a lawn or hedge.

Word family

  • barbershop
  • barber-surgeon
  • unbarbered
  • barber chair
  • barber pole
  • barber's itch

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ a b c Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  9. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  10. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  12. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  13. ^ 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)
  14. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster