barba

See also: Appendix:Variations of "barba"

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾba/
• Syllabification: bar‧ba
• Rhymes: -aɾba

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard

References

• Diccionario ortografico de l'aragonés (Seguntes la PO de l'EFA)
• Bal Palazios, Santiago (2002) “barba”, in Dizionario breu de a luenga aragonesa, Zaragoza, →ISBN

Asturian

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾba/ [ˈbaɾ.β̞a]
• Rhymes: -aɾba
• Syllabification: bar‧ba

Noun

barba f (plural barbes)

1. chin
2. beard
3. baleen

Further reading

• “barba” in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana. Xosé Lluis García Arias. →ISBN.
• “barba” in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana (1ª edición). Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000). →ISBN.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [ˈbar.bə]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [ˈbaɾ.ba]

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin barba, from earlier *farba, from Proto-Italic *farβā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”).

Noun

barba f (plural barbes)

1. chin

   Synonyms: mentó, barbó, barbeta

2. beard

Derived terms

• barba-reveixí
• barba-roig
• barba-ros
• barba-serrat
• barbablanc
• barbabrut
• barbaclar
• barbacoll
• barbada
• barbaespès
• barbaflorit
• barbafort
• barbafresc
• barbagrís
• barballa
• barbamec
• barbanegre
• barbapunyent
• barbat
• barber
• barbeta
• barbut

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

barba

1. inflection of barbar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “barba”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April
• “barba”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025.
• “barba” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “barba” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Cimbrian

Etymology

Borrowed from Venetan barba (“paternal uncle”), from Medieval Latin barbās (“paternal uncle”).

Noun

barba m (plural barben)

1. (Sette Comuni, Luserna) uncle

   De barben zeint zobia béetare. ― Uncles are like fathers.

References

• Patuzzi, Umberto, ed., (2013) Luserna / Lusérn: Le nostre parole / Ünsarne börtar / Unsere Wörter [Our Words], Luserna, Italy: Comitato unitario delle isole linguistiche storiche germaniche in Italia / Einheitskomitee der historischen deutschen Sprachinseln in Italien
• “barba” in Martalar, Umberto Martello, Bellotto, Alfonso (1974) Dizionario della lingua Cimbra dei Sette Communi vicentini, 1st edition, Roana, Italy: Instituto di Cultura Cimbra A. Dal Pozzo

Corsican

Alternative forms

• berba

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Noun

barba f (plural barbe)

1. beard

References

• “barba” in INFCOR: Banca di dati di a lingua corsa

Emilian

Alternative forms

• bärba (Parmigiano)
• berba (Carpigiano)
• bèrba (Bolognese)

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Noun

barba f (plural barbi)

1. (Mirandola) beard

Esperanto

Etymology

From barbo (“beard”) +‎ -a (adjectival suffix).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbarba/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arba
• Hyphenation: bar‧ba

Adjective

barba (accusative singular barban, plural barbaj, accusative plural barbajn)

1. of or related to beards
2. having a beard, beardy (of people)

   Synonym: barbhava

Related terms

• barbo (“beard”)

French

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

barba

1. third-person singular past historic of barber

Galician

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese barba, from Latin barba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾba/ [ˈbaɾ.β̞ɐ]
• Rhymes: -aɾba
• Hyphenation: bar‧ba

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard
2. chin

   Synonym: barbadela

3. (ornithology) barb (of a feather)

Further reading

• “barba”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

Interlingua

Noun

barba (plural barbas)

1. beard

Related terms

• barbero

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbar.ba/
• Rhymes: -arba
• Hyphenation: bàr‧ba

Etymology 1

From Latin barba, from earlier *farba, from Proto-Italic *farβā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”).

Noun

barba f (plural barbe, diminutive barbétta (“beard”) or barbettìna (“beard”); barbìna (“beard”) or (more common) barbìno m (“beard”); barbicèlla (“root”) or barbicìna (“root”) or barbolìna (“root”), augmentative barbóna (“beard”) or (more common) barbóne m (“beard”), pejorative barbàccia (“beard”), derogatory barbùccia (“beard”))

1. beard
2. (botany) root, rootlet
3. (zoology) barb
4. (colloquial) bore, drag, yawn (an event or action which is boring)

Derived terms

• barbabietola
• Barbarossa
• barbone
• barboso
• barbuto

Related terms

• imberbe

See also

• baffi m pl

Etymology 2

From Medieval Latin barbās, from barba (“the beard”), from the fact that a beard represents a grown man.

Noun

barba m (plural barbi)

1. (northern Italy, Switzerland) uncle, protestant priest

   Synonym: zio

Descendants

• → Greek: μπάρμπας (bármpas)
• → Mòcheno: barba

Latin

Barba ― A beard

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ˈbar.ba]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [ˈbar.ba]

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰers-

Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂

Proto-Italic *farβā

Latin barba

Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂ (“beard”). Since PIE *bʰ normally became [f] at the start of a Latin word, the initial [b] calls for some explanation. It is generally attributed to long-distance regressive assimilation in voicing and/or manner of articulation (e.g. *farb- > barb-).

More information

Katz (1998 and 2006:335-337) identifies one other potential example of this sound change, berber (found only in the Carmen Arvale; interpreted by Katz as meaning "firm", cognate to firmus, from *dʰer-), and proposes the sound law *fVrb- > bVrb-, noting it has no apparent counterexamples. This sound law is also endorsed by Weiss 2018:439-440 (citing Katz 2006), with the same examples, although Weiss prefers to interpret berber as meaning 'at every door' and derive it from *dʰwer- (“door, gate”) via *dʰwer-dʰwer (citing Weiss 2017 and Ligorio 2012). On the other hand, De Vaan 2008, citing Driessen 2001, considers this rule ad hoc. For comparison, fiber from *bʰébʰrus (with the similar but not identical shape fVbr-) shows a lack of assimilation (Katz 2006:336).

Previously, Weiss 2009 suggested the alternative of deriving the */b-/ via long-distance aspirate dissimilation ("limited Latin Grassmann's Law") turning *bʰardʰeh₂ into *bardʰeh₂.

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *farβā (perhaps from earlier *farðā) on the assumption that Italian farfecchie (“moustache”) is borrowed from a cognate word in another Italic language. If this reconstruction is correct, then the assimilation discussed above must have postdated the common Italic stage.

Noun

barba f (genitive barbae); first declension

1. beard (facial hair)

   Synonym: barbitium

   Barba nōn facit philosophum.

   A beard does not make a philosopher.

   Videō barbam et pallium; philosophum nōndum videō.

   I see a beard and cloak; a philosopher I don’t yet see.

2. (figuratively) wool, down on a plant

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	barba	barbae
genitive	barbae	barbārum
dative	barbae	barbīs
accusative	barbam	barbās
ablative	barbā	barbīs
vocative	barba	barbae

Derived terms

• barbā tenus sapiēns
• barbātōria
• barbātus
• barbescō
• barbiger
• barbiō
• barbitium
• barbula
• barbus
• imberbis
• malebarbis

Descendants

• Eastern Romance
  • Aromanian: barbã
  • Istro-Romanian: borbĕ
  • Romanian: barbă
• Franco-Provençal: bârba
• Gallo-Romance
  • Emilian: barba
  • Ligurian: bàrba
  • Lombard: barba
  • Piedmontese: barba
• Italo-Dalmatian
  • Corsican: barba
  • Italian: barba
  • Dalmatian: buarba
  • Sicilian: varva, barba, varba
• Occitano-Romance
  • Catalan: barba
  • Occitan: barba
• Oïl
  • Old French: barbe
    • Middle French: barbe
      • French: barbe
  • Old Northern French: barbe
    • Norman: barbe
    • Walloon: båbe
    • Anglo-Norman: barbe
• Rhaeto-Romance
  • Friulian: barbe
  • Romansch: barba
• Sardinian: balba, barba, balva
• Venetan: barba
  • ⇒ Venetan: barbièr (“barber”)
    • → Ottoman Turkish: بربر (berber) (see there for further descendants)
• West Iberian
  • Aragonese: barba
  • Asturian: barba
  • Old Galician-Portuguese: barva
    • Galician: barba
    • Portuguese: barba
      • → Sranan Tongo: barba
        • Aukan: baiba
  • Ladino: barva
  • Spanish: barba
• → Proto-Brythonic: *barv
  • Breton: barv
  • Cornish: barv
  • Welsh: barf

Etymology 2

A variant form of the Medieval Latin barbās (“paternal uncle”).

Noun

barba m (genitive barbae); first declension

1. alternative form of barbās

Declension

First-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	barba	barbae
genitive	barbae	barbārum
dative	barbae	barbīs
accusative	barbam	barbās
ablative	barbā	barbīs
vocative	barba	barbae

Further reading

• “barba”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “barba”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• "2. BARBA", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[2], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to grow one's hair, beard long: promittere crinem, barbam
    
• “barba”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper’s Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
• “barba”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
• De Vaan, Michiel (2008) “barba”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 69

Lombard

Etymology

Akin to Italian barba, from Latin.

Noun

barba f

1. beard

Mòcheno

Etymology

From Italian barba, from Medieval Latin barbās (“paternal uncle”).

Noun

barba m

1. uncle

   Coordinate term: moa'm

References

• “barba” in Cimbrian, Ladin, Mòcheno: Getting to know 3 peoples. 2015. Servizio minoranze linguistiche locali della Provincia autonoma di Trento, Trento, Italy.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard

Piedmontese

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Noun

barba m

1. uncle

Portuguese

barba

Etymology

From Old Galician-Portuguese barba, barva, from Latin barba (“beard”), from earlier *farba, from Proto-Italic *farβā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”).

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbaʁ.bɐ/ [ˈbaɦ.bɐ]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbaʁ.bɐ/ [ˈbaɦ.bɐ]
  • (São Paulo) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾ.bɐ/
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ˈbaʁ.bɐ/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɻ.ba/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾ.bɐ/ [ˈbaɾ.βɐ]

• Rhymes: (Brazil) -aʁbɐ, (Portugal) -aɾbɐ
• Hyphenation: bar‧ba

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard

Quotations

• For quotations using this term, see Citations:barba.

Derived terms

• abarbar
• barba de baleia
• barba de cabra
• barba-azul
• barba-de-velho
• barbado
• barbear
• barbinha
• fazer a barba
• pós-barba

Related terms

• Barbados
• barbicha
• imberbe

Descendants

• → Sranan Tongo: barba
  • Aukan: baiba

See also

• bigode
• buço
• cavanhaque

Further reading

• “barba”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2025
• “barba”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbarba]

Noun

barba f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of barbă

Romansch

Etymology

From Latin barba, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰ-eh₂- (compare English beard). Compare meaning of "uncle" to Friulian barbe, Italian barba, Dalmatian buarba.

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard

Noun

barba m (plural barbas)

1. (Rumantsch Grischun, Surmiran, Puter, Vallader) uncle

Synonyms

• (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan) aug
• (Sutsilvan) oc, ô

Coordinate terms

• (with regards to gender):
  • (Rumantsch Grischun, Sursilvan, Sutsilvan, Surmiran) onda
  • (Vallader) anda
  • (Puter, Vallader) tanta

Sicilian

Noun

barba f (plural barbi)

1. alternative form of varva

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbaɾba/ [ˈbaɾ.β̞a]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɾba
• Syllabification: bar‧ba

Etymology 1

Inherited from Latin barba, from earlier *farba, from Proto-Italic *farβā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”). Compare English barber.

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard
2. chin

   Synonyms: mentón, barbilla

Noun

barba m (plural barbas)

1. beardy, bearded man
2. (archaic) the part of an old man (in a play)
3. (archaic) the villain (of a play)

Derived terms

• a barba regalada
• andar con la barba por el suelo
• barba a barba
• barba cerrada
• barba de cabra
• barba de chivo
• barba de Júpiter
• barba de piedra
• barba de tres días
• barba partida
• barbas de ballena
• barbería
• barbero
• barbiespeso
• barbijo
• barbilla
• barbón
• barbudo
• con toda la barba
• echar a las barbas
• hacer la barba
• mentir por la barba
• por barba
• subirse a las barbas
• tirarse de las barbas

Related terms

• imberbe

Etymology 2

Verb

barba

1. inflection of barbar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “barba”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Sranan Tongo

Etymology

Borrowed from Portuguese barba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baɾba/, [ba̠ɾba̠], [bɑ̟ɾbɑ̟]

Noun

barba

1. beard
   • 2002, SIL, “Anansi nanga a ston san abi barba”, in Languages of Suriname‎^[3], Sranan Tongo Library:

     Wan dei Anansi ben koiri ini a busi. Dan di ai koiri a si wan sani di noiti a ben si bifo: wan ston di abi barba.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• Aukan: baiba