barrow

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbæɹ.əʊ/
• (US) enPR: bărʹō, IPA^(key): /ˈbæɹoʊ/

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  (Mary–marry–merry distinction)

• audio (US)

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  (Mary–marry–merry merger)
• Rhymes: -ærəʊ

From Middle English berwe, bergh, from Old English beorg (“mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place”), from Proto-Germanic *bergaz (“mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“high; height”). Cognate with Scots burrow (“mound, tumulus, barrow”), Saterland Frisian Bäirch, Bierich (“mountain”), West Frisian berch (“mountain”), Dutch berg (“mountain”), Low German Barg (“mountain”), German Berg (“mountain”), Danish bjerg (“mountain”), Swedish berg (“mountain”), Norwegian Bokmål berg (“rock, mountain, hillock, rock bottom”), Icelandic berg (“mountain”), bjarg (“rock”), Polish brzeg (“bank, shore”), Russian бе́рег (béreg, “bank, shore, land”).

barrow (plural barrows)

1. (obsolete) A mountain.
2. (chiefly Britain) A hill.
3. A mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves.

   Synonym: tumulus

4. (mining) A heap of rubbish, attle, or other such refuse.

From Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe, from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”), from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle High German radebere (“wheelbarrow”)), from *beraną (“to bear”). More at bear.

barrow (plural barrows)

1. (Britain) A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand.

   Synonyms: handcart, pushcart, trolley

   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 7, in The Mirror and the Lamp:

     The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened one.

2. (saltworks) A wicker case in which salt is put to drain.

From Old English bearg.

barrow (plural barrows)

1. (obsolete except in scientific use and in some dialects) A castrated boar.

Old English beorgan (“to protect”)

barrow (plural barrows)

1. A long sleeveless flannel garment for infants.