Middle English Dictionary Entry
barain n.
Entry Info
| Forms | barain n. |
| Etymology | From barain(e adj. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
(a) A barren woman; also fig.; (b) ?lack of fertility, barrenness [may be construed as the adjective]; (c) used jocularly of a herd of mules.
Associated quotations
a
- a1250 Ancr.(Nero A.14)71/12 : Al were he þuruh miracle of barain iboren.
- c1350 MPPsalter (Add 17376)p.181 : Þe barain childed many.
- a1400(a1325) Cursor (Vsp A.3)16655 : Þe baraigne [Göt: baraine; Trin-C: bareyn] blisced sal man call.
- c1400 Interpol.Rolle Cant.(1) (Bod 288)15 : Til þe bareyn have boren manye [L sterilis peperit]..Til þe bareyn, þat is, þe Chirche of Cristen men þat first was bareyn of truþe and good werk, have borun manye sones goostli to Crist.
- c1475 St.Anne(2) (Trin-C R.3.21)376 : And of all holy the holyest ys she; Of bareyns frutefull virgynyte.
b
- c1483(?a1450) OT in Caxton Gold.Leg.(Caxton:EETS)46/180 (f.50rb) : The vij lene oxen and the vij voyde eeris .. betokene vij yere .. of grete hungre and scarcete .. of .. grete sterilite, bareyne, and scarcete.
c
- a1450 Terms Assoc.(1) (Rwl D.328)603 : A bareyne of mules.
Supplemental Materials (draft)
Note: Med., etc., see further J.Norri, Dictionary of Medical Vocabulary, s.v. barren.