- Barren flower
- Barren Bar"ren (b[a^]r"ren), a. [OE. barein, OF. brehaing,
fem. brehaigne, baraigne, F. br['e]haigne; of uncertain
origin; cf. Arm. br['e]kha[~n], markha[~n], sterile; LL.
brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish
documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.]
1. Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young;
sterile; -- said of women and female animals.
[1913 Webster]
She was barren of children. --Bp. Hall. [1913 Webster]
2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile. ``Barren mountain tracts.'' --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. [1913 Webster]
Brilliant but barren reveries. --Prescott. [1913 Webster]
Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter. --Swift. [1913 Webster]
4. Mentally dull; stupid. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
{Barren flower}, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils.
{Barren Grounds} (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions.
{Barren Ground bear} (Zo["o]l.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe.
{Barren Ground caribou} (Zo["o]l.), a small reindeer ({Rangifer Gr[oe]nlandicus}) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.
