barren

See also: Barren

§English

§Etymology

From Old French baraigne (“sterile, barren”).

§Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbæɹən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ærən
• Homophone: baron (in some accents)

§Adjective

barren (comparative barrener or more barren, superlative barrenest or most barren)

1. (not comparable) Unable to bear children; sterile.

   I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?

2. Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.
   • Thomas Macaulay (1800–1859)

     barren mountain tracts

   • 2014 December 23, Olivia Judson, “The hemiparasite season [print version: Under the hemiparasite, International New York Times, 24–25 December 2014, p. 7]”, The New York Times:

     The druids […] believed that mistletoe could make barren animals fecund, and that it was an antidote to all poisons.

3. Bleak.
   • 1922, Michael Arlen, “Ep./4/2”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days:

     As they turned into Hertford Street they startled a robin from the poet's head on a barren fountain, and he fled away with a cameo note.

4. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
   • William H. Prescott (1796-1859)

     brilliant but barren reveries

   • Jonathan Swift (1667–1745)

     Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter.

   • 2011 September 2, Phil McNulty, “Bulgaria 0-3 England”, BBC:

     Rooney had been suffered a barren spell for England with only one goal in 15 games but he was in no mood to ignore the gifts on offer in front of an increasingly subdued Bulgarian support.

5. Mentally dull; stupid.
   • William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III.ii. ca. 1602

     Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.

§Synonyms

• sterile

§Antonyms

• fertile
• fruitful

§Translations

unable to bear children; sterile

• Armenian: ամուլ (hy) (amul), չբեր (čʿber)
• Basque: antzu (eu)
• Bulgarian: безплоден (bg) (bezploden), ялов (bg) (jalov)
• Czech: neplodný m
• Dutch: onvruchtbaar (nl), steriel
• Finnish: hedelmätön (fi), steriili (fi), maho (fi)
• German: steril (de), unfruchtbar (de)
• Hungarian: meddő (hu)
• Italian: sterile (it), infertile (it)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: بێبه‌ر (ku)

• Maori: pākoko, pukupā, wharepā
• Nahuatl: tetzacatl (nah)
• Portuguese: estéril (pt), infértil
• Romanian: nefertil (ro) m, n, sterilă f
• Russian: беспло́дный (ru) (besplódnyj)
• Scots: eild
• Scottish Gaelic: aimrid, fàsaichte, seasg
• Slovak: neplodný
• Spanish: estéril (es), infértil

infertile

• Armenian: անպտղաբեր (anptłaber), ամուլ (hy) (amul)
• Basque: antzu (eu)
• Bulgarian: неплодороден (bg) (neplodoroden)
• Esperanto: malfekunda
• Finnish: karu (fi), hedelmätön (fi)
• German: unfruchtbar (de), dürr (de), karg (de)
• Greek: άκαρπος (el) (ákarpos)
• Hungarian: terméketlen (hu)

• Italian: sterile (it), infruttifero (it)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: بێبه‌ر (ku)

• Maori: hahore
• Nahuatl: tetzacatl (nah)
• Portuguese: estéril, infértil; árido
• Russian: беспло́дный (ru) (besplódnyj), неплодоро́дный (ru) (neplodoródnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: aimrid, fàsaichte, seasg
• Spanish: estéril (es), infértil

bleak

• German: ausgetrocknet, vertrocknet, trocken (de), dürr (de), kahl (de), ausgedörrt, karg (de)

• Hiligaynon: baúg

§Noun

barren (plural barrens)

1. An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.

   The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.

§Translations

area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place

• Bulgarian: пустош (bg) (pustoš)
• German: Ödland (de) n, Öde f, Kargland n

• Maori: rake, hūnua (refers to a place at higher altitude), pāhoahoa, akeake
• Russian: пу́стошь (ru) f (pústošʹ)
• Swedish: ödemark (sv)

---

§Basque

§Adjective

barren

1. deep

---

§Spanish

§Verb

barren

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) present indicative form of barrer.
2. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present indicative form of barrer.

---

§Swedish

§Noun

barren

1. definite singular of barr
2. definite plural of barr