barn

Signification

Noun

1. A building, often found on a farm, used for storage or keeping animals such as cattle.
2. A unit of surface area equal to 10⁻²⁸ square metres.
3. (informal) An arena.
4. (slang) A warm and cozy place, especially a bedroom; a roost.

Verb

To lay up in a barn.

Prononcé comme (IPA)

[bɑɹn]

Étymologie

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.