Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Origin and history of barrel

barrel(n.)

"cylindrical vessel or cask, generally bulging in the middle and made of wooden staves bound by hoops," c. 1300, from Old French baril "barrel, cask, vat" (12c.), with cognates in all Romance languages (Italian barile, Spanish barril, etc.), but of unknown origin. Also a measure of capacity of varying quantity.

The meaning "metal tube of a gun" is from 1640s. Barrel-roll (n.) in aeronautics is from 1920. To be over a barrel figuratively, "in a helpless or vulnerable condition," is by 1914 and might suggest corporal punishment.

barrel(v.)

mid-15c., "put in barrels," from barrel (n.). The meaning "move quickly" is 1930, American English slang, perhaps suggestive of a rolling barrel. Related: Barreled; barreling.

also from mid-15c.

Entries linking to barrel

barrelful(n.)

"as much as a barrel will hold," late 14c., from barrel (n.) + -ful.

barrelhouse(n.)

"cheap saloon, often with an associated brothel," by 1875, American English, so called in reference to the barrels of beer or booze typically stacked along the wall. See barrel (n.) + house (n.).

Q. What was this place you rented? — A. It was a room adjoining a barrel-house.
Q. What is a barrel house? — A. It is a room where barrels of whisky are tapped, a very inferior kind of whisky, and the whisky is sold by the glassful right out of the barrel. It is a primitive coffee house. [Committee Report of the 43rd Congress, Select Committee on Conditions of the South, 1874-75]
Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trends of barrel

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

barricade
"to obstruct with a barricade," 1590s, from barricade (n.). Related: Barricaded; barricading...."hastily made fortification for defense or to obstruct the progress of an enemy," 1640s, from French barricade, from Spanish barricada, literally "made of barrels," from barrica "barre
drum
early 15c., drom, "percussive musical instrument consisting of a hollow wooden or metallic body and a tightly stretched head of membrane," probably from Middle Dutch tromme "drum," a common Germanic word (compare German Trommel, Danish tromme, Swedish trumma) and probably imitati
faucet
"breach, spigot, stopper, peg (of a barrel)," which is of unknown origin; perhaps diminutive of Latin faux, fauces "upper...Spigot and faucet was the name of an old type of tap for a barrel or cask, consisting of a hollow, tapering tube, which was...driven at the narrow end into a barrel, and a screw into the tube which regulated the flow of the liquid....
badger
A badger is put into a barrel, and one or more dogs are put in to drag him out....When this is effected he is returned to his barrel, to be similarly assailed by a fresh set of dogs....
puncheon
"barrel or cask for soap or liquor; iron vessel," according to Century Dictionary ranging from 72 to 120 gallons, c. 1400...connexion of sense has not been found" [OED] and the best guess at it seems to be from the stamp or imprint impressed on the barrel...
rifle
"portable firearm having a barrel or barrels with a spirally grooved bore," by 1775; the word was used earlier of the grooves...themselves (1751), and is a noun use from rifled pistol, 1680s, from the verb rifle meaning "to cut spiral grooves in" (a gun barrel...
cannon
by force of gunpowder," from Anglo-French canon (mid-14c.), Old French canon (14c.), from Italian cannone "large tube, barrel...
vessel
c. 1300, "container," from Old French vessel "container, receptacle, barrel; ship" (12c., Modern French vaisseau) from Late Latin vascellum "small vase or urn," also "a ship," alteration of Latin vasculum, diminutive of vas "vessel." Sense of "ship, boat" is found in English from
grin
Old English grennian "show the teeth" (in pain or anger), common Germanic (cognates: Old Norse grenja "to howl," grina "to grin;" Dutch grienen "to whine;" German greinen "to cry"), from PIE root *ghrei- "be open." Sense of "bare the teeth in a broad smile" is late 15c., perhaps
ring
[circular band] Old English hring "circlet of metal, especially one of a precious metal for wearing on the finger ornamentally, also a part of a mail coat; anything circular," from Proto-Germanic *hringaz "something curved, circle" (source also of Old Norse hringr, Old Frisian hr

Share barrel

Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Trending
Dictionary entries near barrel
Advertisement

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.

Want to remove ads? Log in to see fewer ads, and become a Premium Member to remove all ads.