barn English · revision 10632

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 950|origins=ang bereærn}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /bɑːn/, US /bɑːrn/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|ang|bere-ærn|t=barley house]] (about 950), contracted to bern,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) from bere, [[barley]], and ærn, house, storeroom,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which is metathesized from *rasn, cognate with Old Norse rann, large house, and Gothic razn, house.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) The same element is in Old English sealtærn, saltworks, and horsern, stable.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A covered building for storing grain: about 950.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Etymonline notes that barley was the chief grain crop in Anglo-Saxon England.^(Etymonline) In the United States a barn is also a stable or cattle house (1770),^(OED 1989) and a large shed for railway cars or buses.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) A large, bare building is called a barn.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) The verb, to store in a barn, is from 1593.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024) In nuclear physics, the barn, a unit of area for cross-sections, is from 1947, said to come from the phrase ''as big as a barn'' or ''barn door''.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 950 – bere-ærn.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1593 – to barn (verb).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1770 – a stable (US).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1947 – a unit in nuclear physics.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large farm building for storing [[grain]], [[hay]] or other produce and housing livestock.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(US, Canada)'' A large shed for railway cars, buses or trucks.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A large, bare or unattractive building.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(physics)'' A unit of area for nuclear cross-sections, 10⁻²⁸ square metres.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[barnlike]]

+ * [[barnboard]]

+ * [[barnburner]]

+ * [[barnstorm]]

+ * [[barnwood]]

+ * [[barnyard]]

+ * [[carbarn]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[barley]]

+ * [[bere]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}