See Also: barren(medicine)
barren(1)(dictionary)
barren(2)(dictionary)
barren(dictionary)
Barren Money(money)
Barren - Horse Racing(gambling)
BARREN MONEY, civil law(law)

barren(2) (iou)



barren adjective & noun. ME.
[Anglo-Norman barai(g)ne from Old French bar(a)haine, brehai(g)ne (mod. brehaigne), of unkn. origin.]
A. adjective. (Foll. by of.)
1. Of a woman: incapable of bearing children; infertile. ME.
2. Of an animal: not pregnant at the usual season. ME.
3. Of a tree or plant: not producing fruit or seed. LME.
barren strawberry: see STRAWBERRY 2.
4. Of land: producing little vegetation; unproductive; infertile. LME.
5. Destitute of interest or attraction; arid; dull. LME.
6. Producing no result; fruitless; unprofitable. M16.
7. Of a person: unresponsive; dull. L16.
Comb.: barrenwort a low rhizomatous herb of the barberry family, Epimedium alpinum, once thought to cause sterility.
B. noun.
1. A barren woman or animal. Long dial. rare. ME.
2. A tract of barren land, esp. (freq. in pl. and with specifying word) in N. America. M17.
oak-barrens, pine-barrens, etc.
barrenly adverb M16.
barrenness [-n-n-] noun ME.