entry
barrow
/ˈbær.oʊ/A handcart, or mound over a burial
From Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- / *bʰérǵʰos (To rise) + Proto-Germanic *beraną / *barwǭ (To carry).
from Proto-Germanic *bergaz (“hill, mountain”)
from Middle English berwe, bergh
from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle...
from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”)
from Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe
Word Ancestry
from Proto-Germanic *bergaz (“hill, mountain”)
from Middle English berwe, bergh
from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle...
from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”)
from Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe
Two quite different words are hiding under the same spelling. One barrow is an old burial mound: in Old English, beorg meant a hill, mound, or burial place, from a root describing something that rises up—an earthy hump on the landscape where the dead were laid. The other began as bearwe, a basket or carrying frame, related to the ancient Germanic family behind bear and bier; its first version had no wheel at all, so two people had to lift it by its projecting handles. By about 1300, Middle English speakers were writing forms such as barewe, while miners and laborers later gave us the wheeled barrow familiar from gardens and construction sites. So a barrow may be a hill made by the dead or a frame made to carry things—one rises from the ground, the other helps burdens rise from it.
The Story
Two quite different words are hiding under the same spelling. One barrow is an old burial mound: in Old English, beorg meant a hill, mound, or burial place, from a root describing something that rises up—an earthy hump on the landscape where the dead were laid. The other began as bearwe, a basket or carrying frame, related to the ancient Germanic family behind bear and bier; its first version had no wheel at all, so two people had to lift it by its projecting handles. By about 1300, Middle English speakers were writing forms such as barewe, while miners and laborers later gave us the wheeled barrow familiar from gardens and construction sites. So a barrow may be a hill made by the dead or a frame made to carry things—one rises from the ground, the other helps burdens rise from it.
Modern Usage
An alleged person who talks excessively and loves hearing their own voice; also a crude verb in a separate Urban Dictionary entry.
Notable References
- Urban Dictionary entries for barrow
Kin & Kindred
From '*bʰerǵʰ- / *bʰérǵʰos'·To rise; an elevated place or hill
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From '*beraną / *barwǭ'·To carry; a stretcher or bier
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary
Wiktionary