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barbe

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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See also: Barbe and barbé

French

Pronunciation

Etymology 1

    Inherited from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe, from Latin barba, from earlier *farba, from Proto-Italic *farβā, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂ (“beard”).

    Noun

    barbe f (plural barbes)

    1. beard
      Il a une barbe bien fournie. ― He has a luxurious beard.
      Je vais peut-être me laisser pousser la barbe. ― Maybe I'll let my beard grow.
      Certaines personnes mettent plusieurs années avant d'obtenir une barbe dure, d'autres n'y parvenant jamais.
      Some people take several years before obtaining a strong beard, others never succeed.
      • 1910, Alain, Propos:
        Je regardais hier le buste d'un philanthrope ; c'était une tête à moitié chauve, une barbe en pointe, et l'air d'un sous-chef à son bureau.
        Yesterday I was looking at the bust of a philanthropist; it was a half-bald head, a pointy beard, and the look of a sous-chef at his office.
        (please add an English translation of this quotation)
    2. longer hair growing on the chin or face of some animals
      La barbe d'une chèvre, d'un bouc.
      The beard of a goat, of a billygoat.
    3. barbel (whisker-like sensory organs, located around the mouth of certain fish)
      Les barbes du brochet.
      The barbels of the pike.
    4. barb (feather)
      Le duvet est constitué de petites plumes légères dont les barbes ne sont pas enchevêtrées.
      The duvet is made of small, light feathers whose barbs are not tangled.
    5. (botany) barb (hair or bristle)
      • 1858, Théophile Gautier, Le Roman de la momie:
        La besogne des bœufs terminée, vinrent des serviteurs qui, armés d'écopes de bois, élevaient le blé en l'air et le laissaient retomber pour le séparer des pailles, des barbes et des cosses.
        The work of the oxen finished, servants came who, armed with wooden scoops, lifted the wheat into the air and let it fall back to separate the straw, the barbs, and the seed pods.
    6. (colloquial) a boring thing, a drag
      Quelle barbe ! ― What a bore!
    Derived terms

    Etymology 2

    Borrowed from Italian barbero, barbaro.

    Adjective

    barbe (plural barbes)

    1. (of a horse) Barbary
      un cheval barbe ― a Barbary horse, a Barb horse

    Noun

    barbe m (plural barbes)

    1. Barbary horse
      Les barbes d'Abaco étaient une toute petite population de chevaux barbes espagnols sauvages sur les îles Abacos.
      The Abaco Barbs were a very small population of wild Spanish Barb horses on the Abaco Islands.

    Etymology 3

    See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

    Verb

    barbe

    1. inflection of barber:
      1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
      2. second-person singular imperative

    Further reading

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    Friulian

    Etymology 1

    From Latin barba, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂.

    Noun

    barbe f (plural barbis)

    1. beard

    Etymology 2

    From the above term, due to the fact that a beard represents a grown or mature man. Compare Romansh, Italian, and Piedmontese barba, Dalmatian buarba.

    Noun

    barbe m

    1. uncle

    See also

    Italian

    Pronunciation

    • IPA(key): /ˈbar.be/
    • Rhymes: -arbe
    • Hyphenation: bàr‧be

    Noun

    barbe f

    1. plural of barba

    Anagrams

    Middle French

    Etymology

      From Old French barbe, from Latin barba, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂.

      Noun

      barbe f (plural barbes)

      1. beard

      Descendants

      • French: barbe

      Norman

      Etymology

      From Old French barbe, from Latin barba, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂.

      Noun

      barbe f (plural barbes)

      1. (Jersey) beard
      2. (Jersey) eaves

      Derived terms

      Old French

      Etymology

        From Latin barba, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰardʰeh₂.

        Noun

        barbe oblique singular, f (oblique plural barbes, nominative singular barbe, nominative plural barbes)

        1. beard

        Derived terms

        • barbier
          • French: barbier (see there for further descendants)
          • → Middle Dutch: barbier
            • Dutch: barbier (see there for further descendants)
        • Anglo-Norman: barbour (see there for further descendants)

        Descendants

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        Spanish

        Verb

        barbe

        1. inflection of barbar:
          1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
          2. third-person singular imperative

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