barrel English · revision 7120

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1300|origins=fro baril}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbæɹ(ə)l/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbæɹəl/, /ˈbɛɚəl/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English barayl, barel, [[bor|fro|baril|t=barrel, cask]] (Anglo-French barel),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) with cognates in all the Romance languages, as Italian barile and Spanish barril,^(Etymonline) of uncertain or unknown origin.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) MWU traces it to a Gallo-Romance *barrīculus, probably a diminutive of *barrīca, cask, and NODE and SOED to Medieval Latin barriclus, a small cask.^(MWU 2024)^(NODE 1998)^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A cylindrical wooden vessel bulging in the middle: probably before 1300, in ''Kyng Alisaunder'';^(Barnhart 1988) about 1300–05.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The contents of a barrel, especially liquor, is from about 1300,^(OED 1989) and a measure of capacity from 1379.^(OED 1989) The metal tube of a gun is from the 1640s.^(Etymonline) In American political slang, money for a campaign is from 1884.^(OED 1989) ''Over a barrel'', helpless, is by 1914, perhaps suggesting corporal punishment,^(Etymonline) and the aeronautical ''barrel roll'' from 1920.^(Etymonline) The verb, to put in barrels, is mid-15th-century, and to move fast is American slang from 1930, perhaps from a rolling barrel.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1300 – a cask.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1379 – a measure.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-15th century – to put in barrels.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1640s – a gun barrel.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1914 – over a barrel.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1930 – to move fast.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A large cylindrical container that bulges in the middle, traditionally made of wooden staves bound with hoops; a [[cask]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A measure of capacity, as of oil, 42 US gallons.^(AHD)^(SOED 2002)

+ # The tube of a gun through which the bullet is fired.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A cylindrical part, as of a pen or pump.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # ''(informal)'' To move very fast.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To put in a barrel.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[barreled]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[barrel organ]]

+ * [[keg]]

+ * [[cask]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}