WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Bar"ren
Part of Speech : a.
Etymology : [OE. barein, OF. brehaing, brehaigne, baraigne, F. br?haigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. br?kha, markha, sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.]
Definition : 1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- She was barren of children. Bp. Hall.

2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; "Barren mountain tracts." Macaulay.

3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. Brilliant but barren reveries. Prescott. Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. Swift.

4. Mentally dull; stupid. Shak. Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which as neither stamens nor pistils. -- Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions. -- Barren Ground bear (Zo?l.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe. -- Barren Ground caribou (Zo?l.), a small reindeer (Rangifer Groenlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913

Pronunciation : Bar"ren
Part of Speech : n.
Definition : 1. A tract of barren land.

2. pl.

Defn: Elevated lands or plains on which grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often fertile. [Amer.] J. Pickering.
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913