"barn" meaning in Middle English

See barn in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /barn/, /baːrn/, /bɛrn/ Forms: barnes [plural], barnen [plural], bern [alternative], bearn [alternative], bærn [alternative], barne [alternative], berne [alternative], baren [alternative]
Etymology: Inherited from Old English bearn, from Proto-West Germanic *barn, from Proto-Germanic *barną. Etymology templates: {{glossary|Inherited}} Inherited, {{inh|enm|ang|bearn|||g=|g2=|g3=|id=|lit=|nocat=|pos=|sc=|sort=|tr=|ts=}} Old English bearn, {{inh+|enm|ang|bearn}} Inherited from Old English bearn, {{inh|enm|gmw-pro|*barn}} Proto-West Germanic *barn, {{inh|enm|gem-pro|*barną}} Proto-Germanic *barną Head templates: {{head|enm|nouns|g=|g2=|g3=|head=|sort=}} barn, {{enm-noun|pl=barnes|pl2=barnen}} barn (plural barnes or barnen)
  1. A member of one's immediate offspring or progeny.
    Sense id: en-barn-enm-noun-enm:child Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header, Children, Male Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 34 5 39 9 14 Disambiguation of Children: 53 31 5 5 5 Disambiguation of Male: 95 0 2 0 3
  2. A child, youth, or baby.
    Sense id: en-barn-enm-noun-zyJLRxNF Categories (other): People Disambiguation of People: 45 55 0 0 0
  3. A person; a member of humanity.
    Sense id: en-barn-enm-noun-H3ouF9to Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 34 5 39 9 14
  4. A younger soldier or fighter.
    Sense id: en-barn-enm-noun-D8ZGo6ky
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: barneschen, barnhede, barnles, barntem, stepbarn
Etymology number: 1 Categories (other): Family Disambiguation of Family: 0 0 0 0 0

Noun

Head templates: {{head|enm|noun|altform=1}} barn
  1. Alternative form of bern (“barn”) Tags: alt-of, alternative Alternative form of: bern (extra: barn)
    Sense id: en-barn-enm-noun-enm:barn Categories (other): Middle English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of Middle English entries with incorrect language header: 34 5 39 9 14
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2 Categories (other): Family Disambiguation of Family: 0 0 0 0 0

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

{
  "categories": [
    {
      "_dis": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "kind": "other",
      "langcode": "enm",
      "name": "Family",
      "orig": "enm:Family",
      "parents": [],
      "source": "w+disamb"
    }
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "barn",
            "3": "bern"
          },
          "expansion": "English: barn, bern",
          "name": "desc"
        },
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "obsolete",
            "2": "dialectal"
          },
          "expansion": "(obsolete, dialectal)",
          "name": "q"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: barn, bern (obsolete, dialectal)"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en-geo",
            "2": "bairn"
          },
          "expansion": "Geordie English: bairn",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Geordie English: bairn"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sco",
            "2": "bairn"
          },
          "expansion": "Scots: bairn\n→ English: bairn",
          "name": "desctree"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Scots: bairn\n→ English: bairn"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "yol",
            "2": "barrn"
          },
          "expansion": "Yola: barrn",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Yola: barrn"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "bearn",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Old English bearn",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "bearn"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Old English bearn",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*barn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *barn",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*barną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *barną",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Old English bearn, from Proto-West Germanic *barn, from Proto-Germanic *barną.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "barnes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "barnen",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bern",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bearn",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bærn",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "barne",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "berne",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "baren",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "nouns",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "barn",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "pl": "barnes",
        "pl2": "barnen"
      },
      "expansion": "barn (plural barnes or barnen)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "barneschen"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "barnhede"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "barnles"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "barntem"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "stepbarn"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "34 5 39 9 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "53 31 5 5 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Children",
          "orig": "enm:Children",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "95 0 2 0 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "Male",
          "orig": "enm:Male",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A member of one's immediate offspring or progeny."
      ],
      "id": "en-barn-enm-noun-enm:child",
      "links": [
        [
          "offspring",
          "offspring"
        ],
        [
          "progeny",
          "progeny"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "enm:child"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "45 55 0 0 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "enm",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "enm:People",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_english_offsets": [
            [
              77,
              82
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              62,
              66
            ]
          ],
          "english": "Afterwards, as our books record, it happened one day that / while this brave child was peacefully looking after his animals […]",
          "ref": "c. 1335-1361, William of Palerne (MS. King's College 13), folio 6, recto, lines 198-199; republished as W. W. Skeat, editor, The Romance of William of Palerne, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1867, →OCLC, page 12:",
          "text": "Hit tidde after on a time · as tellus our bokes / as þis bold barn his beſtes · blybeliche keped[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A child, youth, or baby."
      ],
      "id": "en-barn-enm-noun-zyJLRxNF",
      "links": [
        [
          "child",
          "child"
        ],
        [
          "youth",
          "youth"
        ],
        [
          "baby",
          "baby"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "34 5 39 9 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A person; a member of humanity."
      ],
      "id": "en-barn-enm-noun-H3ouF9to",
      "links": [
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ],
        [
          "member",
          "member"
        ],
        [
          "humanity",
          "humanity"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A younger soldier or fighter."
      ],
      "id": "en-barn-enm-noun-D8ZGo6ky",
      "links": [
        [
          "younger",
          "younger"
        ],
        [
          "soldier",
          "soldier"
        ],
        [
          "fighter",
          "fighter"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/barn/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/baːrn/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɛrn/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "barn"
}

{
  "categories": [
    {
      "_dis": "0 0 0 0 0",
      "kind": "other",
      "langcode": "enm",
      "name": "Family",
      "orig": "enm:Family",
      "parents": [],
      "source": "w+disamb"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "altform": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "barn",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "barn",
          "word": "bern"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "34 5 39 9 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of bern (“barn”)"
      ],
      "id": "en-barn-enm-noun-enm:barn",
      "links": [
        [
          "bern",
          "bern#Middle_English"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "enm:barn"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "barn"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English alternative forms",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Middle English lemmas",
    "Middle English nouns",
    "Middle English terms derived from Old English",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms derived from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Old English",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic",
    "Middle English terms inherited from Proto-West Germanic",
    "Pages with 21 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Children",
    "enm:Family",
    "enm:Male",
    "enm:People"
  ],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en",
            "2": "barn",
            "3": "bern"
          },
          "expansion": "English: barn, bern",
          "name": "desc"
        },
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "obsolete",
            "2": "dialectal"
          },
          "expansion": "(obsolete, dialectal)",
          "name": "q"
        }
      ],
      "text": "English: barn, bern (obsolete, dialectal)"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "en-geo",
            "2": "bairn"
          },
          "expansion": "Geordie English: bairn",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Geordie English: bairn"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "sco",
            "2": "bairn"
          },
          "expansion": "Scots: bairn\n→ English: bairn",
          "name": "desctree"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Scots: bairn\n→ English: bairn"
    },
    {
      "depth": 1,
      "templates": [
        {
          "args": {
            "1": "yol",
            "2": "barrn"
          },
          "expansion": "Yola: barrn",
          "name": "desc"
        }
      ],
      "text": "Yola: barrn"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_number": 1,
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "Inherited"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited",
      "name": "glossary"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "bearn",
        "4": "",
        "5": "",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "id": "",
        "lit": "",
        "nocat": "",
        "pos": "",
        "sc": "",
        "sort": "",
        "tr": "",
        "ts": ""
      },
      "expansion": "Old English bearn",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "bearn"
      },
      "expansion": "Inherited from Old English bearn",
      "name": "inh+"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*barn"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *barn",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*barną"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *barną",
      "name": "inh"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Inherited from Old English bearn, from Proto-West Germanic *barn, from Proto-Germanic *barną.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "barnes",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "barnen",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bern",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bearn",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "bærn",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "barne",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "berne",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "baren",
      "tags": [
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "nouns",
        "g": "",
        "g2": "",
        "g3": "",
        "head": "",
        "sort": ""
      },
      "expansion": "barn",
      "name": "head"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "pl": "barnes",
        "pl2": "barnen"
      },
      "expansion": "barn (plural barnes or barnen)",
      "name": "enm-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "barneschen"
    },
    {
      "word": "barnhede"
    },
    {
      "word": "barnles"
    },
    {
      "word": "barntem"
    },
    {
      "word": "stepbarn"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A member of one's immediate offspring or progeny."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "offspring",
          "offspring"
        ],
        [
          "progeny",
          "progeny"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "enm:child"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "Middle English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_english_offsets": [
            [
              77,
              82
            ]
          ],
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              62,
              66
            ]
          ],
          "english": "Afterwards, as our books record, it happened one day that / while this brave child was peacefully looking after his animals […]",
          "ref": "c. 1335-1361, William of Palerne (MS. King's College 13), folio 6, recto, lines 198-199; republished as W. W. Skeat, editor, The Romance of William of Palerne, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1867, →OCLC, page 12:",
          "text": "Hit tidde after on a time · as tellus our bokes / as þis bold barn his beſtes · blybeliche keped[…]",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A child, youth, or baby."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "child",
          "child"
        ],
        [
          "youth",
          "youth"
        ],
        [
          "baby",
          "baby"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A person; a member of humanity."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "person",
          "person"
        ],
        [
          "member",
          "member"
        ],
        [
          "humanity",
          "humanity"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "glosses": [
        "A younger soldier or fighter."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "younger",
          "younger"
        ],
        [
          "soldier",
          "soldier"
        ],
        [
          "fighter",
          "fighter"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/barn/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/baːrn/"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/bɛrn/"
    }
  ],
  "word": "barn"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "Middle English alternative forms",
    "Middle English entries with incorrect language header",
    "Pages with 21 entries",
    "Pages with entries",
    "enm:Children",
    "enm:Family",
    "enm:Male",
    "enm:People"
  ],
  "etymology_number": 2,
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "noun",
        "altform": "1"
      },
      "expansion": "barn",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "Middle English",
  "lang_code": "enm",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "extra": "barn",
          "word": "bern"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Alternative form of bern (“barn”)"
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "bern",
          "bern#Middle_English"
        ]
      ],
      "senseid": [
        "enm:barn"
      ],
      "tags": [
        "alt-of",
        "alternative"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "barn"
}

Download raw JSONL data for barn meaning in Middle English (4.8kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable Middle English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-06-07 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-06-01 using wiktextract (92124b4 and f1c2b61). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.