Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BARK'ER, n.

One who barks or clamors unreasonably; one who strips trees of their bark.

BARK'GALL-ED, a.

Having the bark galled, as with thorns. This defect is cured by binding on clay. Encyc.

BARK'ING, ppr.

Stripping off bark; making the noise of dogs; clamoring; covering with bark.

BARK'Y, a.

Consisting of bark; containing bark. Shak.

BAR'LEY, n. [W. barlys; Sax. bere. Qu. L. far, Gr. πυρος, Heb. בר, bar, corn. In the Saxon Chronicle, An. 1124, it is written bærlie. Owen renders it bread-corn, from bara, bread.]

A species of valuable grain, used especially for making malt, from which are distilled liquors of extensive use, as beer, ale, and porter. It is of the genus Hordeum, consisting of several species. Those principally cultivated in England, are the common spring barley, the long eared barley, the winter or square barley, by some called big, and the sprat or battledore barley. This grain is used in medicine, as possessing emollient, diluent, and expectorant qualities. Encyc. Miller. Arbuthnot.

BAR'LEY-BRAKE, n.

A rural play; a trial of swiftness. Sidney.

BAR'LEY-BROTH, n.

A low word for strong beer. Shak.

BAR'LEY-CORN, n. [See Corn.]

A grain of barley; the third part of an inch in length; hence originated our measures of length. Johnson.

BAR'LEY-MOW, n.

A mow of barley, or the place where barley is deposited. Gay.

BAR'LEY-SU-GAR, n.

Sugar boiled till it is brittle, formerly with a decoction of barley.

BAR'LEY-WA-TER, n.

A decoction of barley, which is reputed soft and lubricating, and much used in medicine. French barley, and pearl barley, are used for making decoctions. These are made by separating the grain from its coat. The pearl barley is reduced to the size of a small shot.

BARM, n. [Sax. beorm. Qu. L. fermentum, from ferveo; or beer-rahm, beer cream; or W. berwi, to boil.]

Yeast; the scum rising upon beer, or other malt liquors, when fermenting, and used as leaven in bread to make it swell, causing it to be softer, lighter, and more delicate. It may be used in liquors to make them ferment or work. Johnson. Encyc.

BARM'Y, a.

Containing barm, or yeast. Bacon. Shak.

BARN, n. [Sax. berern, from bere, barley, and ærn, or ern, a close place, or repository.]

A covered building for securing grain, hay, flax, and other productions of the earth. In the northern states of America, the farmers generally use barns for stabling their horses and cattle; so that among them, a barn is both a corn-house, or grange, and a stable.

BAR'NA-CLE, n. [Port. bernaca, the Solan goose; Fr. barnacle, or barnaque; L. perna, a shell-fish.]

1. A shell which is often found on the bottoms of ships, rocks, and timber, below the surface of the sea.
2. A species of goose, found in the northern seas, but visiting more southern climates in winter. The forehead and cheeks are white, but the upper part of the body and neck is black. Formerly, a strange notion prevailed, that these birds grew out of wood, or rather out of the barnacles attached to wood in the sea. Hence the name. It is written also Bernacle. Pennant.
3. In the plural, an instrument consisting of two branches joined at one end with a hinge, to put upon a horse's nose, to confine him, for shoeing, bleeding, or dressing. Encyc.

BAR'O-LITE, n. [Gr. βαρος, weight, and λιθος, a stone.]

Carbonate of baryta. Its color is usually a light yellowish gray; sometimes whitish, or with a tinge of green. It is strongly translucent. It usually occurs in small masses, which have a fibrous structure; sometimes in distinct crystals. This mineral is called also Witherite, from Dr. Withering, the discoverer. Cleaveland. Kirwan. Ure.

BA-ROM'E-TER, n. [Gr. βαρος, weight, and μετρον, measure.]

An instrument for measuring the weight or pressure of the atmosphere, consisting of a glass tube, hermetically sealed at one end, filled with quicksilver, well defecated and purged of air, and inverted in a basin of quicksilver. A column of quicksilver is then supported in the tube, of equal weight with the incumbent atmosphere. This instrument was invented by Torricelli, of Florence, in 1643. Its uses are to indicate changes of weather, and to determine the altitude of mountains, by the falling and rising of the mercury. For this purpose, the tube is fixed to a graduated scale, so that the smallest variation in the column is visible. Encyc. Johnson.

BAR-O-MET'RIC-AL, n.

Pertaining or relating to the barometer; made by a barometer; as, barometrical experiments.

BAR-O-MET'RIC-AL-LY, adv.

By means of a barometer. Pinkerton.

BAR'ON, n. [Fr. baron; Sp. baron or varon; It. barone; Sans. bareru, bharta, a husband. This word, in the middle ages, was written bar, ber, var, baro, paro, viro, virro, viron. It is the vir of the Latins; Sax. wer; Ir. fir, fear; W. gwr, for guir, gevir. See Spelman's Glossary, and Hirt. Pansa de Bell. Alex. 42: Hickes's Sax. Grammar, 113, 146. The Sax. wer, L. vir, is doubtless the Shemitic נבר, a man, so named from strength.]

1. In Great Britain, a title or degree of nobility; a lord; a peer; one who holds the rank of nobility next below that of a viscount, and above that of a knight or baronet. Originally, the barons, being the feudatories of princes, were the proprietors of land held by honorable service. Hence, in ancient records, the word barons comprehends all the nobility. All such in England, had, in early times, a right to sit in parliament. As a baron was the proprietor of a manor, and each manor had its court-baron; hence the barons claimed, and to this day enjoy, the right of judging in the last resort; a right pertaining to the house of lords, or peers, as the representatives of the ancient barons, land-holders, manor-holders. Anciently, barons were greater, or such as held their lands of the king in capite; or lesser, such as held their lands of the greater barons by military service capite. The title of baron is no longer attached to the possession of a manor, but given by the king's letters patent, or writ of summons to parliament; that is, the dignity is personal, not territorial. The radical word, vir, fir, a man, is Celtic, as well as Teutonic; but the word baron was not known in the British Isles, till introduced from the continent under the Norman princes. Spelman. Blackstone. Encyc. Cowel.
2. Baron is a title of certain officers; as, barons of the exchequer, who are the four judges who try cases between the king and his subjects relating to the revenue. Barons of the Cinque Ports are members of the House of Commons, elected by the seven Cinque Ports, two for each port. These ports are Dover, Sandwich, Romney, Hastings, Hythe, Winchelsea, and Rye. Blackstone.
3. In law, a husband; as, baron and feme, husband and wife.

BAR'ON-AGE, n.

1. The whole body of barons or peers.
2. The dignity of a baron.
3. The land which gives title to a baron. Johnson.

BAR'ON-ESS, n.

A baron's wife or lady. Johnson.

BAR'ON-ET, n. [Fr. dimin. of baron.]

A dignity or degree of honor, next below a baron, and above a knight; having precedency of all knights except those of the garter, and being the only knighthood that is hereditary. The order was founded by James I. in 1611, and is given by patent. Johnson. Blackstone.

BAR'ON-ET-CY, n.

The rank or title of a baronet. Parriana.

BA-RO'NI-AL, a.

Pertaining to a baron. Encyc.