beard

Meaning

Noun

1. Facial hair on the chin, cheeks, jaw and neck.
2. The cluster of small feathers at the base of the beak in some birds.
3. The appendages to the jaw in some cetaceans, and to the mouth or jaws of some fishes.
4. The byssus of certain shellfish.
5. The gills of some bivalves, such as the oyster.
6. In insects, the hairs of the labial palpi of moths and butterflies.
7. Long or stiff hairs on a plant; the awn.
8. Long, hair-like feathers that protrude from the chest of a turkey
9. A barb or sharp point of an arrow or other instrument, projecting backward to prevent the head from being easily drawn out.
10. The curved underside of an axehead, extending from the lower end of the cutting edge to the axehandle.
11. That part of the underside of a horse's lower jaw which is above the chin, and bears the curb of a bridle.
12. (dated) That part of a type which is between the shoulder of the shank and the face.
13. (slang) A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.
14. (slang) A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.
15. (slang) A fake customer or companion; an intermediary.

Verb

1. (intransitive, obsolete) To grow hair on the chin and jaw.
2. (transitive) To boldly and bravely oppose or confront, often to the chagrin of the one being bearded.
3. (transitive) To take by the beard; to seize, pluck, or pull the beard of (a man), in anger or contempt.
4. (transitive) To deprive (an oyster or similar shellfish) of the gills.
5. (intransitive) Of bees, to accumulate together in a beard-like shape.
6. (ambitransitive, slang) Of a gay man or woman: to accompany a gay person of the opposite sex in order to give the impression that they are heterosexual.

Synonyms

whiskers

moustache

chin

awn

mustache

whisker

facial hair

arista

face fungus

defy

body hair

byssus

sideburns

coring

cornhusk

dare

dent

encircle

enclose

enwrap

fillister

flout

fluke

flute

🪈

front

fur

gird

glume

gossip

groove

hem in

hold in

ignore

indent

indentation

intrusion

jawline

lower jaw

mock

moustaches

mustaches

outface

recess

rut

shrubbery

slight

snub

stubble

surround

thwart

Translations

barbe

barba

barba

Bart

barba

baard

barba

barba

sakal

γένι

rî

لحية

barba

rih

Pronounced as (IPA)

/bɪəd/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: berd

Inherited from Old English: beard

Cognate with Western Frisian: burd

Cognate with Dutch: baard

Cognate with German: Bart

Cognate with Latin: barba

Cognate with Lithuanian: barzda

Cognate with Russian: борода́

In summary

PIE word
*bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English berd, bard, bærd, from Old English beard, from Proto-West Germanic *bard, from Proto-Germanic *bardaz (compare West Frisian burd, Dutch baard, German Bart). Cognate further to Latin barba, Lithuanian barzda, Russian борода́ (borodá): the word may date to Proto-Indo-European as *bʰardʰeh₂, *bʰh₂erdʰeh₂. Doublet of barb.