barren

Definition

Not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.

Etymology

From Middle English bareyne, from Anglo-Norman baraigne, baraing (“sterile; barren”), of obscure origin; probably from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *baʀ (“bare; barren”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare”). If so, a doublet of bare.

Example Sentences

• "I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?"
• "Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their sterile curse."
• "The druids […] believed that mistletoe could make barren animals fecund, and that it was an antidote to all poisons."