Bar"ren (?), a. [OE. barein, OF. brehaing, em. brehaigne, baraigne, F. br'ehaigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. br'ekha, markha, sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.]

1.

Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- aid of women and female animals.

She was barren of children. Bp. Hall.

2.

Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; rile.

"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 Zool., a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe. -- Barren Ground caribou Zool., a small reindeer (Rangifer Grenlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland.

 

© Webster 1913.


Bar"ren, n.

1.

A tract of barren land.

2. pl.

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.

 

© Webster 1913.

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