*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of bere

From Middle English bere (“barley”), from Old English bere (“barley”), from Proto-West Germanic *barī, from Proto-Germanic *baraz (“barley”). Compare Welsh bara (“bread”), Latin far (“emmer”), Serbo-Croatian бра̏шно/brȁš

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗
noun

Barley, especially four-rowed barley or six-rowed barley.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English bere (“barley”), from Old English bere (“barley”), from Proto-West Germanic *barī, from Proto-Germanic *baraz (“barley”). Compare Welsh bara (“bread”), Latin far (“emmer”), Serbo-Croatian бра̏шно/brȁšno (“flour”), Albanian bar (“grass”), Ancient Greek Φήρον (Phḗron, “plant deity”). See also: barley.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Inherited-form mentionbereenm · barley
  • Inherited-form mentionbereang · barley
  • Inherited-form mention*barīgmw-pro
  • Derivation mention*barazgem-pro · barley
  • Cognate mentionbaracy
  • Cognate mentionfarla
  • Cognate mentionбра̏шноsh
  • Cognate mentionbarsq
  • Cognate mentionΦήρονgrc
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "barley"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "bere",
        "id": "barley",
        "t": "barley"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English bere (“barley”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "bere",
        "t": "barley"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English bere (“barley”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gmw-pro",
        "3": "*barī"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-West Germanic *barī"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*baraz",
        "t": "barley"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *baraz (“barley”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "cy",
        "2": "bara",
        "3": "",
        "4": "bread"
      },
      "expansion": "Welsh bara (“bread”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "la",
        "2": "far",
        "3": "",
        "4": "emmer"
      },
      "expansion": "Latin far (“emmer”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sh",
        "2": "бра̏шно",
        "sc": "Cyrl"
      },
      "expansion": "Serbo-Croatian бра̏шно"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sq",
        "2": "bar",
        "3": "",
        "4": "grass"
      },
      "expansion": "Albanian bar (“grass”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "grc",
        "2": "Φήρον",
        "3": "",
        "4": "plant deity"
      },
      "expansion": "Ancient Greek Φήρον (Phḗron, “plant deity”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "bere",
      "bere#Middle_English:_barley"
    ],
    [
      "bere",
      "bere#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "*barī",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-West Germanic/barī"
    ],
    [
      "*baraz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/baraz"
    ],
    [
      "bara",
      "bara#Welsh"
    ],
    [
      "far",
      "far#Latin"
    ],
    [
      "бра̏шно",
      "брашно#Serbo-Croatian"
    ],
    [
      "brȁšno",
      "brašno#Serbo-Croatian"
    ],
    [
      "bar",
      "bar#Albanian"
    ],
    [
      "Φήρον",
      "Φήρον#Ancient_Greek"
    ],
    [
      "barley",
      "barley#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Barley, especially four-rowed barley or six-rowed barley."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Scotland",
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "recordId": "d464ffba45dd13c6e418d067008a2877f6e08eebb3b7a5746ed454938b4fb53a",
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  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
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    "links": 0,
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    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A pillowcase; a fabric case or covering as for a pillow; a pillowbere.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

See bear (“pillowcase”)

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "etymid",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "pillowcase"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "bear",
      "bear#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A pillowcase; a fabric case or covering as for a pillow; a pillowbere."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "recordId": "f7af82d2f518799b3003f92b26b8f61989997af9378ae08530aebd1e9bcac12c",
      "rawRecordSha256": "1e11482dae9af916ae8d1263875b0cf9b732c1cc3e6d60cc49e2b2f3d5249483",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 195130
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
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    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for bere →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-YmVyZQ