barn

Definition

A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle.

Etymology

From Middle English barn, bern, bærn, from Old English bearn, bern, contracted forms of Old English berern, bereærn (“barn, granary”), compound of bere (“barley”) and ærn, ræn (“dwelling, barn”), from Proto-West Germanic *raʀn, from Proto-Germanic *razną (compare Old Norse rann), from pre-Germanic *h₁rh̥₁-s-nó-, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁erh₁- (“to rest”). More at rest and barley. For the use as a unit of surface area, see w:Barn (unit) § Etymology.

Example Sentences

• "One day I was out in the barn and he drifted in. I was currying the horse and he set down on the wheelbarrow and begun to ask questions."
• "Maple Leaf Gardens was a grand old barn."