Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Barbary |
BarbaryNoun1. A region of North Africa on the Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Gibraltar; was used as a base for pirates from the 16th to 19th centuries. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "Barbary" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1350. (references) |
Note: Barbary \Bar"ba*ry\, noun. [Fr. Ar. Barbar the people of Barbary.]. (references) |
| Domain | Definition |
Literature | Barbary St. Barbary, the patron saint of arsenals and powder magazines. Her father delivered her up to Martian, governor of Nicomedia, for being a Christian. After she had been subjected to the most cruel tortures, her unnatural father was about to strike off her head, when a lightning flash laid him dead at her feet. Hence, those who invoke saints select St. Barbary in thunderstorms. (See Barbe.) Roan Barbary. The favourite horse of Richard II (See Horse.) Ldquo;O, how it yearned my heart when I beheld In London streets that coronation day. When Bolingbroke rode on roan Barbary! That horse that thou [Rich. II.] so often hast bestrid, That horse that I so carefully have dressed." Shakespeare: Richard II, v. 5. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Jealousy | Adjective: jealous, jealous as a barbary pigeon; jaundiced, yellow-eyed, envious, hornmad. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Barbary |
| English words defined with "Barbary": Barbarossa, Barbary Coast, Barbary pirate ♦ corsair, Couscousou ♦ Khayr ad-Din ♦ Magot ♦ Sadr, Semen contra. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "Barbary": LITTLE BARBARY ♦ Messalina of Germany ♦ Richard II.'s Horse, Roan Barbary. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "Barbary": Berber. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | No-one mentioned anything about Barbary apes, but if you'd seen a couple of them fornicating on the kitchen table, likely you'd have mentioned it. (Dalziel and Pascoe: Bones and Silence; writing credit: Reginald Hill; Alan Plater) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Barbary Coast (1959) Law of the Barbary Coast (1949) Barbary Pirate (1949) Flame of Barbary Coast (1945) Barbary Coast Gent (1944) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
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Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Zhizn' i stradanie [...] barbary. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
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| "Barbary ape 2" by L L Commentary: "Barbary ape on the Rock of Gibraltar." |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | He defended a rabbit warren against rats, with nothing but the odour of a little Barbary pig that he placed there |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | I wish I could say that our situation with all the other Barbary States was entirely satisfactory. |
James Madison | 1809-1817 | In relation to the powers on the coast of Barbary, nothing has occurred which is not of a nature rather to inspire confidence than distrust as to the continuance of the existing amity. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Barbary" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 52.94% of the time. "Barbary" is used about 17 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 52.94% | 9 | 117,287 |
| Noun (proper) | 47.06% | 8 | 124,375 |
| Total | 100.00% | 17 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "Barbary": Barbary ape ♦ barbary coast ♦ Barbary mastic ♦ barbary pirate ♦ Barbary sheep ♦ barbary states. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "Barbary"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Afrikaans | Barbarye (Barbery). (various references) | |
Chinese | 巴贝里. (various references) | |
Danish | berberhoene (barbary partridge), figenkaktus (barbary fig tree, Indian fig tree, nopal, prickly pear cactus). (various references) | |
Dutch | Barbarije, Barbarýe (Barbery). (various references) | |
Esperanto | Barbario. (various references) | |
Finnish | viikunakaktus (barbary fig tree, Indian fig, Indian fig tree, nopal, prickly pear, prickly pear cactus, tuna). (various references) | |
French | barbarie (barbarity, barbarousness). (various references) | |
German | berberei. (various references) | |
Greek | βραχοπέρδικα (barbary partridge). (various references) | |
Italian | barberia. (various references) | |
Manx | Yn Varbeyr. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | arbarybay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | berbéria. (various references) | |
Spanish | berbería. (various references) | |
Swedish | fikonkaktus (prickly pear). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | Alectoris barbara, Cervus elaphus barbarus, Opuntia ficus-indica, opuntia monocartha. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Barbary" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Abboxry, Babbar, Barari, Barbar, barbari, Barberi, Barbey, Barbrak, Barbro, Barbur, Barbury, Bargany, Barharn, Barjarg, Barrard, Barway, birbary, Bosbury, Narbra, Saraburi. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| Words rhyming with "Barbary" (pronounced 'Bar"ba*ry'): Abbreviatory, Abditory, Abjuratory, Ablutionary, Absolutory, Absolvatory, Acceleratory, Acclamatory, Accusatory, Accustomary, Acetary, Acetimetry, Acidimetry, Acoumetry, Actino-chemistry, Actinometry, Actuary, Additionary, Additory, Adhortatory, Adiaphory, Adjuratory, Adjutory, Admaxillary, Adminiculary, Admissory, Admonitory, Adry, Adstrictory, Adulatory, Advisory, Advocatory, Aerometry, Affirmatory, Alary, Alchemistry, Alcoholometry, Alcoometry, Aldermanry, Aleatory, Aleberry, Alimentary, Alkalimetry, Allegory, Alleviatory, Allodiary, Allusory, Almonry, Almry, Altimetry. (additional references) |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-b-b-r-r-y" | |
-2 letters: array. | |
-3 letters: abba, baba, baby, barb, bray, raya. | |
-4 letters: aba, aby, arb, baa, bar, bay, bra, brr, ray, rya, yar. | |
-5 letters: aa, ab, ar, ay, ba, by, ya. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-b-b-r-r-y" | |
+2 letters: barbarity. | |
+4 letters: barbarously. | |
+5 letters: barbarically. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Crosswords 3. Usage: Modern 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Images: Slideshow 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Speeches 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
