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barrow

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barrow¹

  • /ˈbæɹəʊ/ UK
  • /ˈbæɹoʊ/ US, dialectal
  • /ˈbɛɹoʊ/
  • /ˈbɛɚ.oʊ/
  • /ˈbaɾo/ Scotland
  • /ˈbaɾou/ Wales

Rhymes with -æɹəʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English berwe, bergh, from Old English beorg (“mountain, hill, mound, barrow, burial place”), from Proto-West Germanic *berg, from Proto-Germanic *bergaz (“hill, mountain”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰérǵʰos (“hill”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerǵʰ- (“to rise up, ascend; to be elevated, up high”). Doublet of berg and bergh.

Cognates

Cognate with Scots burrow (“mound, tumulus, barrow”), North Frisian Bārig, beerch, beeri, beerj, berag, berig, berri, bärj (“mountain”), Saterland Frisian Bierich, Bíerig, Bäirch (“mountain”), West Frisian berch (“mountain”), Cimbrian pèrge (“mountain”), Dutch berg (“mountain”), German Berg (“mountain”), German Low German Barg (“mountain”), Limburgish berg, Bärrech (“hill, mountain”), Luxembourgish Bierg (“mountain”), Mòcheno pèrg (“mountain”), Yiddish באַרג (barg, “mountain”), Danish bjerg (“mountain”), Elfdalian bjärr (“hill, mountain”), Faroese berg, bjarg (“cliff”), bjørg (“cliffs”), Icelandic, Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk, and Swedish berg (“mountain”); also Northern Luri برگ (berg, “mountain”), Polish brzeg (“bank, shore”), Russian бе́рег (béreg, “bank, shore”).

noun barrows

  1. obsolete A mountain.
  2. UK A hill.
  3. A mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Meronym: dolmen

    Similar: See burial mound § Synonyms

  4. A heap of rubbish, attle, or other such refuse.

barrow²

  • /ˈbæɹəʊ/ UK
  • /ˈbæɹoʊ/ US, dialectal
  • /ˈbɛɹoʊ/
  • /ˈbɛɚ.oʊ/
  • /ˈbaɾo/ Scotland
  • /ˈbaɾou/ Wales

Rhymes with -æɹəʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English barowe, barwe, barewe, from Old English bearwe (“basket, handbarrow”), from Proto-West Germanic *barwā, *barwijā, from Proto-Germanic *barwǭ, *barwijǭ (“stretcher, bier”) (compare Low German Berwe, Old Norse barar (plural), Middle High German radebere (“wheelbarrow”)), from *beraną (“to bear”). More at bear.

noun barrows · barra

  1. UK A small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand. The turmoil went on—no rest, no peace. […] It was nearly eleven o'clock now, and he strolled out again. In the little fair created by the costers' barrows the evening only seemed beginning; and the naphtha flares made one's eyes ache, the men's voices grated harshly, and the girls' faces saddened on
  2. A wicker case in which salt is put to drain.

barrow³

  • /ˈbæɹəʊ/ UK
  • /ˈbæɹoʊ/ US, dialectal
  • /ˈbɛɹoʊ/
  • /ˈbɛɚ.oʊ/
  • /ˈbaɾo/ Scotland
  • /ˈbaɾou/ Wales

Rhymes with -æɹəʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English barow, bareȝ, bareh, from Old English bearg, bearh (“boar”), from Proto-West Germanic *barug, *barah, from Proto-Germanic *barugaz, *barahaz. Cognate with Old Frisian barch, Old Saxon barug, Old High German barug (German Borg), Old Norse bǫrgr.

noun barrows

  1. A castrated boar.

barrow⁴

  • /ˈbæɹəʊ/ UK
  • /ˈbæɹoʊ/ US, dialectal
  • /ˈbɛɹoʊ/
  • /ˈbɛɚ.oʊ/
  • /ˈbaɾo/ Scotland
  • /ˈbaɾou/ Wales

Rhymes with -æɹəʊ

Where it comes from

From Middle English *berwe, *borwe, *bergh (attested in hamberwe and berwham (“horse-collar”)), from Middle English berwen (“to protect”), from Old English beorgan (“to protect”).

noun barrows

  1. A long sleeveless flannel garment for infants.

Barrow⁵

  • /ˈbæɹoʊ/ US

Where it comes from

English surname, from placenames derived from Old English bearu (“grove”).

The place in Furness is of Celtic origin, from *barros (“promontory, peak”) + Old Norse ey (“island”).

The place in Alaska, now known as Utqiagvik, was named after nearby Point Barrow (Nuvuk). In 1826, Point Barrow was named after Sir John Barrow, a British geographer.

proper noun Barrows

  1. countable, uncountable A surname.
  2. countable, uncountable Former name of Utqiagvik: the borough seat of North Slope Borough, Alaska, renamed in 2016.
  3. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Greene County, Illinois.
  4. countable, uncountable A civil parish in Cheshire West and Chester district, Cheshire, which includes the settlements of Great Barrow and Little Barrow.
  5. countable, uncountable A civil parish with a town council in Westmorland and Furness, Cumbria, which replaced the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness on 1 April 2023. The Conservatives lost Carlisle, Penrith and Solway, Whitehaven and Workington, Barrow and Furness and Morecambe and Lunesdale.
  6. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Boddington parish, Tewkesbury district, Gloucestershire (OS grid ref SO8824).
  7. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish in Ribble Valley district, Lancashire, previously in Wiswell parish (OS grid ref SD7338).
  8. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish (without a council) in Rutland (OS grid ref SK8915).
  9. countable, uncountable A hamlet and civil parish in Much Wenlock ward, Shropshire (OS grid ref SJ6500).
  10. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Charlton Musgrove parish, Somerset, previously in South Somerset district (OS grid ref ST7232).
  11. countable, uncountable A hamlet in North Wootton parish, Somerset, previously in Mendip district (OS grid ref ST5541).
  12. countable, uncountable A hamlet in Wentworth parish, Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire (OS grid ref SK3798).
  13. countable, uncountable A village and civil parish (served by Barrow cum Denham Parish Council) in West Suffolk district, Suffolk, previously in St Edmundsbury district (OS grid ref TL7663).
  14. countable, uncountable A river in eastern Ireland, which flows from County Laois, via County Kildare, County Kilkenny, County Carlow, County Wexford and County Waterford to Waterford Harbour.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: tumulus, burial mound, barrowful, wheelbarrow, garden cart, grave mound, lawn cart, mound, soar, lei, paro, humber, furness, baru, wights, handcart

Translations

Every language

noun mound of earth and stones raised over a grave

한국어봉분 bongbun
中文墳塚 /坟冢 fénzhǒng, 古墓 gǔmù
Portuguêstúmulo, anta
Françaistumulus
DeutschGrabhügel
Italianotumulo
Русскийкурга́н kurgán, моги́льный холм mogílʹnyj xolm

noun small vehicle used to carry a load and pulled or pushed by hand

Españolcarretilla, carrucha
Portuguêscarrinho de mão
Françaisbrouette
DeutschKarren, Karre
Italianocarretto
Русскийта́чка táčka

noun castrated boar

中文阉公猪
Françaiscastrat
DeutschBorg
Românămascur
Русскийборов borov

name City in Alaska

中文巴羅 /巴罗 Bāluó

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Cite this
MLA

"barrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/barrow. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

barrow. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/barrow

Chicago

"barrow." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/barrow.

BibTeX
@misc{barrow_2026,
  title = {barrow},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/barrow},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}