# barrow

Pronunciation: US say "BAIR-oh" /ˈbɛɹ.oʊ/; UK say "BA-roh" /ˈbæɹ.əʊ/

## Noun

1. A mound of earth and stones heaped over a grave or a group of graves.
   - Simple: A large pile of earth and stones built over one or more graves.
   - _The ancient chieftain was buried under a barrow that still rises above the fields._
   - _Several barrows line the ridge, each raised over a cluster of graves._
2. A small cart for carrying a load, pushed or pulled by hand. *(British)*
   - Simple: A small cart that you push or pull by hand to carry things.
   - _Traders set up their barrows along the market street long before dawn._
   - _A porter piled our suitcases onto his barrow and wheeled it to the platform._
3. A male pig that has been castrated.
   - Simple: A male pig that has had an operation so it cannot have young.
   - _The vet castrated the piglet, so it will be raised as a barrow._
   - _The study compared how barrows and gilts grew on the same feed._
4. A hill or mountain; a stretch of land rising above the ground around it. *(dialectal, British)*
   - Simple: A hill, or a large raised piece of land.

## Noun

5. A wicker container used at a saltworks to hold salt while it drains. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A basket of woven sticks where wet salt is left so the water can drip out.
6. An infant's long flannel garment made without sleeves. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A long piece of baby clothing with no sleeves, made of soft, warm cloth.

## Other meanings

- (noun) A heap of waste, such as attle or other refuse, piled up at a mine.

## Origin

**Meanings 1, 4** — Old English beorg could mean a mountain, hill, mound, barrow or burial place, and it became Middle English berwe or bergh. It goes back to Proto-Germanic *bergaz and in the end to Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos. Berg is a doublet, and relatives include Dutch and German Berg ("mountain"), Swedish berg and Russian béreg ("bank, shore").
**Meanings 2, 5** — From Middle English barowe, barwe, from Old English bearwe ("basket, handbarrow"), from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ ("stretcher, bier"), from *beraną ("to bear"). Compare Low German Berwe and Middle High German radebere ("wheelbarrow").
**Meaning 3** — Proto-Germanic *barugaz is the source of Old English bearg or bearh, meaning "boar," which developed into Middle English barow or bareh. Cognates include Old Norse bǫrgr, Old High German barug, Old Saxon barug and Old Frisian barch.
**Meaning 6** — Old English beorgan ("to protect") became Middle English berwen, and from that verb came a Middle English noun *berwe or *bergh, seen in the compounds hamberwe and berwham ("horse-collar").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/barrow (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).