barrio

See also: Barrio, barrió, and bario

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Spanish barrio, from Arabic بَرِّيّ (barriyy, “wild”).

Noun

barrio (plural barrios)

1. A municipality or subdivision of a municipality in Spanish America, and in Spain itself.
2. A slum on the periphery of a major city, or a low to middle-class neighborhood in a lesser city, in Venezuela or the Dominican Republic.
3. (Philippines) A rural barangay or neighborhood.
   • 2008, Resil B. Mojares, “Beast in the Fields”, in Gémino H. Abad, editor, Upon Our Own Ground: Filipino short stories in English: 1956 to 1972, page 413:

     In the barrio, they talked excitedly about the wood-gatherer's discovery. There was so much pushing and quibbling over details that by the time the barrio had organized itself to set out for Salug to investigate, dusk had already fallen.

4. (informal, US) An area or neighborhood in a US city inhabited predominantly by Spanish-speakers or people of Hispanic origin.
   • 1993, Diego Vigil, “The Established Gang”, in Scott Cummings, Daniel J. Monti, editors, Gangs: The Origins and Impact of Contemporary Youth Gangs in the United States, page 98:

     After World War II, its prospering working-class white residents moved to other, more upscale suburban developments, and by the 1950s the area had become an isolated ethnic enclave with its own barrio gang.

   • 1993, “Mr. Jones”, performed by Counting Crows:

     Mr. Jones and me, stumbling through the barrio

Derived terms

• barriotic
• subbarrio

Classical Nahuatl

Alternative forms

• barrioh

Etymology

From Spanish barrio.

Noun

barrio

1. A district of an altepetl.

References

• Lockhart, James. (2001) Nahuatl as Written, Stanford University Press, p. 211.

Latin

Etymology

From barrus (“elephant”).

Pronunciation

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

Verb

barriō (present infinitive barrīre, perfect active barrīvī, supine barrītum); fourth conjugation, no passive

1. (intransitive, Late Latin) to make the sound of an elephant

Conjugation

   Conjugation of barriō (fourth conjugation, no passive)

indicative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	barriō		barrīs		barrit		barrīmus		barrītis		barriunt
	imperfect	barriēbam		barriēbās		barriēbat		barriēbāmus		barriēbātis		barriēbant
	future	barriam		barriēs		barriet		barriēmus		barriētis		barrient
	perfect	barrīvī		barrīvistī		barrīvit		barrīvimus		barrīvistis		barrīvērunt, barrīvēre
	pluperfect	barrīveram		barrīverās		barrīverat		barrīverāmus		barrīverātis		barrīverant
	future perfect	barrīverō		barrīveris		barrīverit		barrīverimus		barrīveritis		barrīverint
subjunctive		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	barriam		barriās		barriat		barriāmus		barriātis		barriant
	imperfect	barrīrem		barrīrēs		barrīret		barrīrēmus		barrīrētis		barrīrent
	perfect	barrīverim		barrīverīs		barrīverit		barrīverīmus		barrīverītis		barrīverint
	pluperfect	barrīvissem		barrīvissēs		barrīvisset		barrīvissēmus		barrīvissētis		barrīvissent
imperative		singular						plural
		first		second		third		first		second		third
active	present	—		barrī		—		—		barrīte		—
	future	—		barrītō		barrītō		—		barrītōte		barriuntō
non-finite forms		infinitive						participle
		active			passive			active			passive
present		barrīre			—			barriēns			—
future		barrītūrum esse			—			barrītūrus			—
perfect		barrīvisse			—			—			—
perfect potential		barrītūrum fuisse			—			—			—
verbal nouns		gerund								supine
		genitive		dative		accusative		ablative		accusative		ablative
		barriendī		barriendō		barriendum		barriendō		barrītum		barrītū

Derived terms

• barrītus

Descendants

• Italian: barrire
• Spanish: barritar

References

• “barrio”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “barrio”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Andalusian Arabic بَرِّيّ (barriyy, “exterior”), referring to the outer, surrounding or less civilized or urbanized parts of a city, from classical Arabic بَرِّيّ (barriyy, “wild”). Compare Portuguese bairro, Catalan barri.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbarjo/ [ˈba.rjo]

• Audio (Colombia):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -arjo
• Syllabification: ba‧rrio

Noun

barrio m (plural barrios)

1. neighbourhood

   Synonym: vecindario

   un barrio de clase media ― a middle-class neighborhood

   • 2015 July 25, David Marcial Pérez, “Cinepolis, el rey mexicano de las pantallas”, in El País‎^[1], archived from the original on 10 November 2018:

     Desde la sala La Raza, en un barrio popular del norte de la capital, dieron el salto al formato multicines en 1973.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (Mexico) any neighbourhood of the original or ancient part of a city (usually excluding new growth after the 1930s, 40s or 50s, depending on the state or city)
3. (Venezuela, Dominican Republic) slum

   Synonym: barrio bajo

Usage notes

• In Mexico it has postal value and is obligatory (or else the colonia or fraccionamiento is), alongside the postal code.

Derived terms

• barriada
• barrio bajo
• barrio residencial
• de barrio

Related terms

• barrial

Descendants

• → Cebuano: baryo
• → Classical Nahuatl: barrio
• → English: barrio
• → Maranao: bariyo
• → Tagalog: baryo

See also

• vecindad
• vecindario

Further reading

• “barrio”, 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
• barrio on the Spanish Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^es