barba

See also: Appendix:Variations of "barba"

Languages (24)

Aragonese • Asturian • Catalan • Cimbrian • Corsican • Emilian • Esperanto • French • Galician • Interlingua • Istriot • Italian • Latin • Lombard • Mòcheno • Occitan • Old Galician-Portuguese • Piedmontese • Portuguese • Romanian • Romansh • Sicilian • Spanish • Sranan Tongo

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Page categories

Aragonese

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Pronunciation

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

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

• García Arias, Xosé Lluis (2002–2004), “barba”, in Diccionario general de la lengua asturiana [General Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (overall work in Spanish), Editorial Prensa Asturiana, →ISBN
• “barba”, in Diccionariu de la llingua asturiana [Dictionary of the Asturian Language] (in Asturian), 1st edition, Academy of the Asturian Language [Asturian: Academia de la Llingua Asturiana], 2000, →ISBN

Catalan

Pronunciation

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

• Audio (Catalonia):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *bʰers-?

Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂

Proto-Italic *farðā

Latin barba

Catalan barba

Inherited from Latin barba, from Proto-Italic *farðā, 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], April 2007
• “barba”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2026
• “barba” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “barba”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

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

Etymology tree

Esperanto barbo

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Italic *-ā

Latin -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Italian -ader.

▲

Latin -a

Old Spanish -a

Spanish -ader.

Esperanto -a

Esperanto barba

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbarba/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arba
• Syllabification: 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”)

Further reading

• “barba”, in Plena Ilustrita Vortaro de Esperanto [Complete Illustrated Dictionary of Esperanto], 2020, →ISBN
• “barba”, in Reta Vortaro [Online Dictionary] (in Esperanto), 1997-2026

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʁ.ba/

• Audio (France (Lyon)):

  (file)

Verb

barba

1. third-person singular past historic of barber

Galician

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese barba, from Latin barba, from Proto-Italic *farðā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂, possibly from *bʰers-.

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, 2012–2026

Interlingua

Noun

barba (plural barbas)

1. beard

Related terms

• barbero

Istriot

Etymology 1

From Medieval Latin barbās.

Noun

barba m

1. alternative form of bara

Etymology 2

Inherited from Latin barba.

Noun

barba f

1. beard
2. chin

References

• Antonio Pellizzer; Giovanni Pellizzer (1992), Vocabulario del dialetto di Rovigno d'Istria, pages 93-94
• Sandro Cergna (2015), Vocabolario del dialetto di Valle d'Istria, →ISBN, page 38

Italian

Pronunciation

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

Etymology 1

From Latin barba, from Proto-Italic *farðā, 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 *farðā

Latin barba

Inherited from Proto-Italic *farðā, 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-). Italian farfecchie (“moustache”) may have been borrowed from a cognate word in another Italic language. If a relationship with this Italian word is accepted, then the assimilation discussed above must have postdated the common Italic stage.

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.

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.

   • c. 37 BCE – 30 BCE, Vergilius, Georgicon 3.366–367:

     […] Stiriaque impexis induruit horrida barbis,
     Interea toto non setius aere ningit.

     […] hoarfrost clings to their uncombed, shaggy beards while the whole sky keeps on sheding snow.

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
  • Istriot: barba
  • Italian: barba
  • Neapolitan: varva
  • Sicilian: varva, barba, varba
  • Dalmatian: buarba
• 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
  • Romansh: 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: barba, barva
    • Fala: barba, balba
    • Galician: barba
    • Portuguese: barba
  • Ladino: barva
  • Spanish: barba
• → Proto-Brythonic: *barv
  • Old Breton: barb
    • Middle Breton: barv
      • Breton: barv
  • Old Cornish: barf
    • 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, 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^[1], 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 (Béarn):

  (file)

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard

Old Galician-Portuguese

Alternative forms

• barva

Etymology

Inherited from Latin barba, from Proto-Italic *farðā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂, possibly from *bʰers-.

Pronunciation

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

Noun

barba f (plural barbas)

1. beard

   Synonym: granhon

Derived terms

• barba jouis
• barbeiro
• barbela
• barbudo
• barvado

Descendants

• Fala: barba, balba
• Galician: barba
• Portuguese: barba

References

• Barreiro, Xavier Varela; Guinovart, Xavier Gómez (2006–2018), “barba”, in Corpus Xelmírez: corpus lingüístico da Galicia medieval [Corpus Xelmírez: linguistic corpus of Medieval Galicia] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Seoane, Ernesto Xosé González; Granja, María Álvarez de la; Agrelo, Ana Isabel Boullón (2006–2022), “barba”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios do galego medieval [Dictionary of dictionaries of Medieval Galician] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
• Ferreiro, Manuel (2014–2026), “barva”, in Universo Cantigas: edición crítica da poesía medieval galego-portuguesa [Universo Cantigas: critical edition of Galician-Portuguese medieval poetry] (in Galician), A Coruña: University of A Coruña, →ISSN
• Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2020–2026), “barba”, in Vocabulário histórico-cronológico do português medieval [Historical and chronological vocabulary of Medieval Portuguese] (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa

Piedmontese

Etymology

From Latin barba.

Noun

barba m

1. uncle

Portuguese

barba

Etymology

Inherited from Old Galician-Portuguese barba, from Latin barba, from Proto-Italic *farðā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰéh₂, possibly from *bʰers-.

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/
  • (Caipira) IPA^(key): /ˈbaɻ.bɐ/

 

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

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

• 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 Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “barba”, in Dicionário Infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2026
• “barba”, in Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), São Paulo: Editora Melhoramentos, 2015–2026, →ISBN
• “barba”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbarba]

Noun

barba f

1. definite nominative/accusative singular of barbă

Romansh

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 *farðā, 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 tigre
• 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
• petrel de barba blanca
• por barba
• subirse a las barbas
• tirarse de las barbas

Related terms

• imberbe
• luchana

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 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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^[2], 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