Barren
barren (barren), a. (OE.barein, OF. brehaing, fem. brehaigne, baraigne,
F. brehaigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm.
brekhan, markhan, sterile; LL.
brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish
documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.) 1.
Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- said
of women and female animals.
She was barren of children. Bp.
Hall.
2. Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation;
sterile. Barren mountain tracts. Macaulay.
3. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable;
empty.
Brilliant but barren reveries.
Prescott.
Some schemes will appear barren of hints and
matter.
Swift.
4. Mentally dull; stupid. Shak.
Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens
without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils. --
Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in
British America northward of the forest regions. -- Barren
Ground bear (Zool.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting
the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of
Europe. -- Barren Ground caribou
(Zool.), a small reindeer (Rangifer
Gronlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and
Greenland.
barren , n. 1. A tractof barren land.
2. pl. Elevated lands or plains on which
grow small trees, but not timber; as, pine barrens; oak
barrens. They are not necessarily sterile, and are often
fertile. (Amer.) J. Pickering.
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