bark

English has three words spelled bark: the dog's cry, the covering of a tree and a kind of ship.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bɑːk/ (UK); /bɑɹk/ (US)^[4]

bark¹ cry of a dog

Etymology

The dog's bark is inherited from Middle English berken, inherited from Old English beorcan (“to bark”),^[1][5][3] from Proto-Germanic *berkaną,^[1][5] of echoic origin,^[5] cognate with Old Norse berkja (“to bark; to boast”) and dialect Lithuanian burgėti (“to growl, quarrel”).^[1][3] Hoad suggests it may be a variant of the root of break.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 899, in Alfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care, in Barnhart.^[1] Middle English borcen is from about 1150 and berken about 1200.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

The noun is Old English beorc.^[5] Bark has been paired with bite since at least the 1660s, as in his bark is worse than his bite,^[5][6] a proverb found already in Latin.^[5] To bark at the moon, to complain uselessly, is from the 1650s,^[5][6] and to bark up the wrong tree, from hounds following the wrong scent, is American by 1831, often linked with Davy Crockett.^[5][6] To speak sharply is a later sense.^[7]

Timeline

• before 899 – beorcan.^[1]
• c. 1150 – borcen.^[1]
• 1650s – bark at the moon.^[5]
• 1660s – bark worse than bite.^[5]
• 1831 – bark up the wrong tree.^[5]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. Of a dog, to make its short, loud cry.
2. To say something sharply or angrily: barked an order.
3. To work as a barker at a fair or show.

Noun

1. The short, loud cry of a dog, or a similar sound, as a cough.

Word family

• barker

bark² covering of a tree

Etymology

The bark of a tree is inherited from Middle English bark, borrowed from Old Norse bǫrkr (“bark”) (stem bark-),^[1][5][2][3] from Proto-Germanic *barkuz,^[5] cognate with Middle Low German borke and Middle Dutch barc,^[1][3] and probably related to birch.^[5][3] The native word was rind.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Before 1300 in the OED, before 1325 in Cursor Mundi in Barnhart, about 1300 in Etymonline.^[8][1][5]

Semantic evolution

The husk or shell of fruit and grain is from 1377,^[8] and bark used in tanning and dyeing from 1565.^[8] In medicine, Peruvian or Jesuits' bark, cinchona, is from 1704.^[8] The verb, to strip the bark from a tree, is from the 1540s, and to scrape the skin from 1850.^[5]

Timeline

• before 1300 – bark of a tree.^[8]
• 1540s – to bark a tree.^[5]
• 1565 – tanning bark.^[8]
• 1704 – Peruvian bark.^[8]
• 1850 – to graze the skin.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The tough outer covering of the trunk, branches and roots of a tree or shrub.
2. Bark of a particular kind used in tanning or medicine.

Verb

1. To scrape the skin off: barked his shin.
2. To strip the bark from a tree.

bark³ ship

Etymology

The ship is inherited from Middle English barke, borrowed from Middle French barque (“boat”),^[5][1][3] from Old Occitan barca,^[1][3] from Late Latin barca (“small boat”),^[5][1][6] possibly through Vulgar Latin *bārica from Ancient Greek βᾶρις (bâris, “Egyptian boat”), of Egyptian origin, though the OED and the Century Dictionary prefer a Celtic source.^[1] It is related to barge and embark.^[5][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A boat: about 1420 in Barnhart, the early 15th century in Etymonline, at first a synonym of barge.^[1][5]

Semantic evolution

The precise sense, a three-masted ship rigged fore-and-aft on the mizzenmast, is from the 17th century and is often spelled barque.^[5][7]

Timeline

• c. 1420 – barke, a boat.^[1]
• 17th century – a three-masted ship.^[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A sailing ship with three to five masts, all square-rigged except the aftmost; a barque.
2. (poetic) A small boat.

Related words

• barque
• barge
• embark
• birch

Usage notes

In Northumberland and Lancashire cant, barks were Irishmen.^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
2. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ 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)