bar English · revision 3106

+ English has two main words spelled ''bar'': the rod or barrier, with its many extended senses, and the unit of pressure, from Greek.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

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

+

+ {{homograph|1|rod, barrier}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=before 1200|origins=la-vul *barra}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The rod is [[inh|enm|barre]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) [[bor|fro|barre|t=beam, bar, gate, barrier]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from [[la-vul|*barra|t=bar, barrier]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) of unknown origin.^(SOED 2002)^(Hoad 1986)^(Cresswell 2021) Some derive it from a Gaulish *barros “the bushy end”, but the OED regards this as discredited because it does not suit the sense.^(Etymonline) Welsh bar and Irish barra are said to be from English, and German Barre and Russian bar from Medieval Latin or Romance.^(Etymonline) The verb is from Old French barrer, from barre.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) The preposition, “except”, is the imperative of the verb, probably on the model of except and save.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A barrier: probably before 1200;^(Barnhart 1988) a bar to fasten a door or gate, late 12th century^(Etymonline) or before 1300,^(Barnhart 1988) and a metal bar or pole by 1364.^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, “to fasten with a bar”, is from about 1280.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its earliest use was for fastening a gate or door, and it soon named various kinds of barrier.^(Cresswell 2021) As the place where the business of a court was done, ''bar'' was synonymous with court by the early 14th century,^(Etymonline) after the railing around the judge's seat, where prisoners stood.^(Cresswell 2021)^(Etymonline) At the Inns of Court a bar separated benchers from the hall, and students were “called to the bar”;^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) the whole body of barristers, the legal profession, is the Bar from the 1550s.^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) A counter over which drink was served is from the 1590s, and hence the room or place itself.^(Etymonline)^(HTOED) A bank of sand across a harbor mouth is from the 1580s,^(Etymonline) and anything that hinders is a bar from the 1530s.^(Etymonline) The verb's sense “to prohibit” is from the mid-16th century,^(Cresswell 2021) and the preposition “except” from the early 18th century (1714),^(SOED 2002)^(MW Collegiate) as in ''bar none''.^(Cresswell 2021) A bar of soap is by 1833 and of candy by 1906.^(Etymonline) ''Bar graph'' is from 1925, ''bar code'' from 1963, and ''behind bars'' by 1934.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1200 – a barrier.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1280 – verb, to fasten with a bar.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * early 14th century – a court of law.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1364 – a metal bar.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1530s – an obstruction.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1550s – the legal profession.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1580s – a sandbank.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1590s – a counter serving drink; a tavern.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1714 – preposition, except.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1833 – a bar of soap.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1963 – ''bar code''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A long, straight, rigid piece of metal or wood, used as a fastener, support or barrier.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A solid oblong block of a substance: ''a bar of soap''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A place serving alcoholic drinks; the counter where they are served.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # Something that prevents or obstructs; a [[barrier]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # ''the Bar'': The legal profession; [[lawyer|alt=lawyers]] collectively, especially [[barrister|alt=barristers]].^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+ # The railing in a court of law, where a prisoner stands.^(AHD)^(Cresswell 2021)

+ # ''(music)'' One of the equal units into which a piece is divided by vertical lines; a [[measure]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A band or stripe of colour.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # A bank of sand or gravel across the mouth of a harbor or river.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To fasten with a bar.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To block or obstruct.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To exclude or [[prohibit]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To mark with stripes.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ===Preposition===

+ # Except; excluding: ''bar none''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[barring]]

+ * [[barred]]

+ * [[crowbar]]

+ * [[handlebar]]

+ * [[sidebar]]

+ * [[barroom]]

+ * [[bartender]]

+ * [[barman]]

+ * [[disbar]]

+

+ {{homograph|2|unit of pressure}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=coinage|attested=1903|origins=grc βάρος}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The unit of pressure is [[der|grc|βάρος|tr=báros|t=weight]],^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) through German, according to Merriam-Webster.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A unit of pressure equal to one dyne per square centimetre: 1903.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1910 it was redefined, in meteorology, as a unit of barometric pressure of a million dynes per square centimetre,^(OED 1989) and it now equals 100,000 pascals, about 0.987 of an atmosphere.^(SOED 2002) The [[millibar]], a thousandth of a bar, is used on weather maps.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1903 – one dyne per square centimetre.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1910 – a unit of barometric pressure.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A unit of [[pressure]] equal to 100,000 [[pascal|alt=pascals]].^(SOED 2002)^(AHD)

+

+ ==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);^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002) the American ''mosquito bar'', a mosquito net, from Louisiana French boire;^(SOED 2002)^(MWU 2024) and an old by-form of [[baron]].^(OED 1989) In Scots a ''bar'' was an infant's flannel waistcoat.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}