barra

Forms

barra f (plural barre)^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *barra, a word of pre-Roman origin.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} DELI and Devoto give its first sense as “wall of mud or clay”, and Nocentini “partition”; the LEI sets out from “cross bar”.^[2][7][3][6] Nocentini notes that Spanish barro and Portuguese barro “mud”, also thought to be substrate words, may show the original meaning.^[3]

The word is found in every Romance language except Romanian: French barre (from the 12th century), Old Occitan barra, Catalan barra, Spanish barra and Portuguese barra (1175).^[6][3][8] The south of Italy has forms with ⟨v-⟩, such as Neapolitan varra.^[6][9] The DEI saw the word as Iberian and compared Basque marra and parra “boundary”, explaining the sense “pole” by a meeting with Latin vāra (“forked pole”); the LEI holds that this meeting is unnecessary.^[9][6] Wiktionary mentions a derivation from Gaulish and one from Proto-Germanic *barō (“bar, barrier”), both uncertain.^[1]

Prati and the DEI take the nautical sense “tiller” from French.^[10][11] For the sandbar at a river mouth Sassetti in 1584 pointed to the usage of the Portuguese, who call such banks ⟨barre⟩.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Pisan Barlaam e Iosafas of the early 14th century.^[12] The oldest sense is military: a temporary barrier closing a passage, a barricade.^[12][2] Giovanni Villani, before 1348, tells of barre di legname “barriers of timber” manned day and night.^[13][2]

Semantic evolution

Old Italian also used the word for a long piece of wood such as a pole or yard, and for the small bar of a horse's bit.^[12] A bar of gold appears as bara in Pigafetta (1525), and Cellini has barra for a bar of metal.^[2][6] The sandbar at the mouth of a river is recorded in 15th-century portolans and in Sassetti (1584).^[2] The bars of the bit and the gap in the horse's jaw where it rests are named in 1692, and the rail dividing judges and lawyers from the public in a courtroom in 1798.^[2]

The ship's tiller is barra del timone from 1824; the general sense of a control lever is recorded in 1940, and the slash as a punctuation sign in 1951.^[2] A bar of chocolate and the bar code (codice a barre) are recent uses.^[14][4]

Timeline

• Early 14th century – The Pisan Barlaam e Iosafas uses barra.^[12]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses it for a barricade.^[2][13]
• 15th century – Portolans use it for a sandbar at a river mouth.^[2]
• 1525 – Pigafetta writes bara for a bar of gold.^[6][2]
• 1692 – The bar of a horse's bit is recorded.^[2]
• 1798 – The courtroom rail is recorded.^[2]
• 1824 – Barra del timone “tiller” is recorded.^[2]
• 1951 – The slash sign is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. A bar of wood or metal used as a lever to work a mechanism: barra spaziatrice “space bar”.^[4][5][15]
2. (nautical) The tiller of a boat;^{[4][16][5][1]} (aeronautics) the control stick of an aircraft.^{[4][16][5][1]}
3. A rod or bar, as across a window or door.^[4][1]
4. A solid metal bar or ingot: barra d’oro.^[4][17]
5. A bar of food: una barra di cioccolato fondente.^[4]
6. (typography) The slash, a vertical or slanting stroke used to separate or as a fraction sign.^[4][17][1]
7. (equestrianism) The bar of a horse's bit; the gap between the canines and molars where the bit rests.^{[4][15][16][1]}
8. (law) The rail in a courtroom that separates the court from the public: andare alla barra “to plead in court”.^[15][17][16]
9. A sandbar at the mouth of a river.^[17][2]
10. (computing) A toolbar or scroll bar in a program's interface.^[17][1]

Word family

• barrare
• sbarra
• sbarrare
• barretta
• barramina
• abbarrare

Related words

• barriera
• French barre
• English bar

Usage notes

Barra is also the third person singular present of barrare “to cross out; to bar”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ a b c d Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
6. ^ a b c d e f g Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 4, 1578
7. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 57
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 444
10. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 117
11. ^ Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 445
12. ^ a b c d Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
13. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
14. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
15. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
16. ^ a b c d Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b c d e Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse