barber

See also: Barber and barbēr

English

A barber cuts hair on the streets of Harbin, China.

Etymology

PIE word
*bʰardʰéh₂

From Middle English barbour, from Anglo-Norman barbour, from Old French barbeor, from barbe (“beard”), from Latin barba.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑː.bə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑɹ.bɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)bə(ɹ)

Noun

barber (plural barbers)

1. A person whose profession is cutting the hair and beards of usually male customers.

   Synonyms: haircutter, hairdresser, hairstylist, (obsolete) tonsor, (obsolete) cutbeard

   • 2022 January 12, Paul Bigland, “Fab Four: the nation's finest stations: Eastbourne”, in RAIL, number 948, page 27:

     There's also a barber's shop and that staple of railway stations up and down the UK - a WH Smith.

2. A barber surgeon, a foot soldier specializing in treating battlefield injuries.
3. (Canada) A storm accompanied by driving ice spicules formed from sea water, especially one occurring on the Gulf of St. Lawrence; so named from the cutting ice spicules.

Derived terms

• barber beats
• barber chair
• barber-chair
• barberess
• barberfish
• barberish
• barber itch
• barberly
• barbermonger
• barber paradox
• barber pole, barber's pole
• barber pole effect
• barber's block
• barber's clerk
• barbershop
• barber shop
• barber's itch
• barber's itch
• barber's rash
• barber's sign
• barber surgeon
• conceited as a barber's cat
• jack-knife barber
• never ask the barber if you need a haircut
• poor as a barber's cat
• sleeping barber problem
• thin as a barber's cat

 

Descendants

• → Indonesian: barber
• → Polish: barber

Translations

person whose profession is cutting (usually male) customers' hair and beards

• Albanian: berber (sq) m
• Arabic: حَلَّاق m (ḥallāq)

  Egyptian Arabic: حلاق m (ḥallāʔ)

  Hijazi Arabic: حلاق m (ḥallāg)

  Moroccan Arabic: حلاق (ḥallāq), حسان (ḥassān), حجام (ḥajjām)

  South Levantine Arabic: حلاق m (ḥallāʔ, ḥallāg)

• Armenian: վարսավիր (hy) (varsavir), սափրիչ (hy) (sapʻričʻ)
• Aromanian: barber m
• Assamese: নাপিত (napit)
• Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܓܲܪܵܥܵܐ m (garrāˁā), ܓܲܪܵܥܬܵܐ f (garrāˁtā)
• Azerbaijani: bərbər (az), dəllək (az)
• Belarusian: цыру́льнік m (cyrúlʹnik), цыру́льніца f (cyrúlʹnica)
• Bengali: নাপিত (bn) (napito)
• Bhojpuri: नाई (nāī)
• Bulgarian: бръсна́р (bg) m (brǎsnár), бръсна́рка f (brǎsnárka), фризьо́р (bg) m (frizjór), фризьо́рка f (frizjórka)
• Burmese: ဆတ္တာသည် (my) (hcattasany)
• Catalan: barber (ca) m
• Chechen: ларгант (largant)
• Cherokee: ᏗᏓᏍᏙᏰᏍᎩ (didasdoyesgi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 理髮師 / 理发师 (zh) (lǐfǎshī)

• Chukchi: инэнимэтыльын (inėnimėtylʹyn)
• Czech: holič (cs) m, holička (cs) f, lazebník (cs) m, bradýř (cs) m (historical), bradýřka f, kadeřník (cs) m, kadeřnice (cs) f
• Dalmatian: burbur m
• Danish: barber c
• Dutch: kapper (nl) m, haarkapper (nl) m, coiffeur (nl) m (Flanders), barbier (nl) m (deprecated)
• Esperanto: barbiro (eo)
• Finnish: parturi (fi), hiustenleikkaaja (fi)
• French: coiffeur (fr) m, coiffeuse (fr) f, barbier (fr) m
• Galician: barbeiro (gl)
• Georgian: დალაქი (dalaki), მკრეჭავი (mḳreč̣avi), პარიკმახერი (ṗariḳmaxeri)
• German: Barbier (de) m, Bartschneider m, Bartscherer m, Friseur (de) m
• Greek: κουρέας (el) m (kouréas)

  Ancient: κουρεύς m (koureús)

• Haitian Creole: kwafè
• Hebrew: סַפָּר (he) m (sapár), ספרית f (saparit)
• Hindi: नाई (hi) m (nāī)
• Hungarian: borbély (hu)
• Icelandic: rakari m, bartskeri m
• Indonesian: barbir (id), tukang cukur (id)
• Irish: bearbóir m
• Italian: barbiere (it) m, parrucchiere (it) m
• Japanese: 理髪師 (ja) (りはつし, rihatsushi), 床屋 (ja) (とこや, tokoya)
• Kamba: kinyozi
• Kamta: নাউৱা (naua)
• Kazakh: шаштараз (şaştaraz), шаштаразшы (şaştarazşy)
• Khmer: ជាងកាត់សក់ (ciəng kat sɑk), ហាងកាត់សក់ (haang kat sɑk)
• Kikuyu: kinyothi
• Korean: 이발사(理髮師) (ko) (ibalsa), 리발사(理髮師) (ribalsa) (North Korea), 이용사(理容師) (ko) (iyongsa), 리용사(理容師) (riyongsa) (North Korea)
• Kyrgyz: чачтарач (ky) (cactarac), парикмахер (parikmaher)
• Ladino: berber, kuafor, arrapador (Monastir)
• Lao: ຊ່າງຕັດຜົມ (sāng tat phom)
• Latin: tonsor (la) m, tonstrix f
• Luhya: kinyozi
• Luo: kinyozi
• Macedonian: бербер m (berber), берберка f (berberka)
• Malayalam: ക്ഷുരകൻ (ml) (kṣurakaṉ), അമ്പിട്ടൻ (ml) (ampiṭṭaṉ)
• Maltese: barbier m, barbiera f
• Maori: kaikuti makawe
• Mopan Maya: ajk'o'os
• Norman: barbyi m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: barberer (no) m

• Ottoman Turkish: بربر (berber), پروكار (perukâr), صقال كسن (sakal kesen)
• Pannonian Rusyn: байбер m (bajber), бритвар m (britvar) (dialectal, Kucura)
• Persian: سرتراش (sartarâš), گرای (fa) sg (garāy), سترنده sg (setorande), پیرایشگر (fa) sg (pīrāyešgar)
• Plautdietsch: Barba m
• Polabian: vǫ̇sĕpuc m
• Polish: balwierz (pl) m, balwierka f, barber (pl) m, barberka f, fryzjer (pl) m, fryzjerka (pl) f, golarz (pl) m, golarka (pl) f, golibroda (pl) m
• Portuguese: barbeiro (pt) m
• Romanian: bărbier (ro) m, frizer (ro) m, coafor (ro) m
• Russian: парикма́хер (ru) m (parikmáxer), брадобре́й (ru) m (bradobréj), цирю́льник (ru) m (cirjúlʹnik), цирю́льница f (cirjúlʹnica)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: брица m, бѐрбер m, ба̀рбӣр m, бербѐрӣн m

  Roman: brica (sh) m, bèrber (sh) m, bàrbīr (sh) m, berbèrīn (sh) m

• Slovak: holič (sk) m, holička (sk) f, kaderník m, kaderníčka f
• Slovene: brivec (sl) m
• Sorbian:

  Lower Sorbian: frizer m

  Upper Sorbian: frizer m, łazenk m, barběr m, truhar m

• Spanish: barbero (es) m, peluquero (es) m
• Swahili: kinyozi (sw)
• Swedish: frisör (sv) c, barberare (sv) c
• Tagalog: barbero
• Tajik: сартарош (sartaroš)
• Telugu: క్షురకుడు (te) (kṣurakuḍu), మంగలి (te) (maṅgali)
• Thai: กัลบก (th) (gan-lá-bòk), ช่างตัดผม (châang-dtàt-pǒm)
• Turkish: berber (tr), perukâr (tr) (obsolete), sakal kesen, kuaför (tr)
• Turkmen: dellek
• Ukrainian: перука́р m (perukár), перука́рка f (perukárka), голя́р m (holjár), голя́рка f (holjárka)
• Uyghur: ساتىراش (satirash), ساتىراچ (satirach)
• Uzbek: sartarosh (uz)
• Venetan: peruchièr m
• Vietnamese: thợ cắt tóc
• Volapük: (♂♀) jeifan (vo), (♂) hijeifan, (♀) jijeifan
• Welsh: barbwr (cy) m
• West Frisian: skearbaas
• Yiddish: שערער m (sherer), שערערין f (shererin)

Verb

barber (third-person singular simple present barbers, present participle barbering, simple past and past participle barbered)

1. (transitive) To cut the hair or beard of (a person).
2. (intransitive) (US, slang) To chatter, talk.
   • 1940, Raymond Chandler, Farewell, My Lovely, Penguin, published 2010, page 29:

     ‘I shouldn't ought to barber with you. But when I like a guy, the ceiling's the limit.’

Derived terms

• unbarbered

 

Translations

to cut the hair

• Arabic: حلاقَة
• Bulgarian: подстригвам (bg) (podstrigvam)
• Dutch: haarknippen (nl), haren knippen, scheren (to shave)
• Finnish: parturoida (fi), leikata hiukset
• German: frisieren (de), Haare schneiden
• Greek: κουρεύω (el) (kourévo)
• Hebrew: סיפר (he) (sipér)
• Macedonian: стриже (striže), берберису́ва (berberisúva)
• Persian: موی ستردن (muy sotordan)
• Portuguese: barbear (pt), cortar cabelo
• Romanian: bărbieri (ro) (to shave), tunde (ro)
• Swedish: klippa (sv), barbera (sv)
• Telugu: క్షవరం చేయు (kṣavaraṁ cēyu), జుత్తు కత్తరించు (juttu kattariñcu)
• Vietnamese: cắt tóc (vi), cạo mặt

Anagrams

• Barbre

Aromanian

Alternative forms

• birber

Noun

barber m (plural barberi)

1. barber (profession)

Derived terms

• barbirii / barbirie

Catalan

Etymology

From barba +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [bərˈbe]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [baɾˈbeɾ]

Noun

barber m (plural barbers, feminine barbera)

1. barber

Further reading

• “barber” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

French

Etymology

From barbe +‎ -er; compare with familiar sense of raser which was its original meaning in Old French.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /baʁ.be/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

barber

1. (informal) to bore someone
   • Le fait est qu'il ne perd aucune occasion de nous barber avec ses expériences dramatiques. (Claudel, Le Ravissement de Scapin, 1952)

Conjugation

Conjugation of barber (see also Appendix:French verbs)

infinitive	simple	barber
	compound	avoir + past participle
present participle or gerund1	simple	barbant /baʁ.bɑ̃/
	compound	ayant + past participle
past participle		barbé /baʁ.be/
		singular			plural
		first	second	third	first	second	third
indicative		je (j’)	tu	il, elle, on	nous	vous	ils, elles
(simple tenses)	present	barbe /baʁb/	barbes /baʁb/	barbe /baʁb/	barbons /baʁ.bɔ̃/	barbez /baʁ.be/	barbent /baʁb/
	imperfect	barbais /baʁ.bɛ/	barbais /baʁ.bɛ/	barbait /baʁ.bɛ/	barbions /baʁ.bjɔ̃/	barbiez /baʁ.bje/	barbaient /baʁ.bɛ/
	past historic2	barbai /baʁ.be/	barbas /baʁ.ba/	barba /baʁ.ba/	barbâmes /baʁ.bam/	barbâtes /baʁ.bat/	barbèrent /baʁ.bɛʁ/
	future	barberai /baʁ.bə.ʁe/	barberas /baʁ.bə.ʁa/	barbera /baʁ.bə.ʁa/	barberons /baʁ.bə.ʁɔ̃/	barberez /baʁ.bə.ʁe/	barberont /baʁ.bə.ʁɔ̃/
	conditional	barberais /baʁ.bə.ʁɛ/	barberais /baʁ.bə.ʁɛ/	barberait /baʁ.bə.ʁɛ/	barberions /baʁ.bə.ʁjɔ̃/	barberiez /baʁ.bə.ʁje/	barberaient /baʁ.bə.ʁɛ/
(compound tenses)	present perfect	present indicative of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect	imperfect indicative of avoir + past participle
	past anterior2	past historic of avoir + past participle
	future perfect	future of avoir + past participle
	conditional perfect	conditional of avoir + past participle
subjunctive		que je (j’)	que tu	qu’il, qu’elle	que nous	que vous	qu’ils, qu’elles
(simple tenses)	present	barbe /baʁb/	barbes /baʁb/	barbe /baʁb/	barbions /baʁ.bjɔ̃/	barbiez /baʁ.bje/	barbent /baʁb/
	imperfect2	barbasse /baʁ.bas/	barbasses /baʁ.bas/	barbât /baʁ.ba/	barbassions /baʁ.ba.sjɔ̃/	barbassiez /baʁ.ba.sje/	barbassent /baʁ.bas/
(compound tenses)	past	present subjunctive of avoir + past participle
	pluperfect2	imperfect subjunctive of avoir + past participle
imperative		–	tu	–	nous	vous	–
simple		—	barbe /baʁb/	—	barbons /baʁ.bɔ̃/	barbez /baʁ.be/	—
compound		—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	simple imperative of avoir + past participle	—
1 The French gerund is usable only with the preposition en.
2 In less formal writing or speech, these tenses may be found to have been replaced in the following way: past historic → present perfect past anterior → pluperfect imperfect subjunctive → present subjunctive pluperfect subjunctive → past subjunctive (Christopher Kendris [1995], Master the Basics: French, pp. 77, 78, 79, 81).

Derived terms

• barbant

References

• “barber”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Further reading

• “barber”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Indonesian

Etymology

From English barber, Anglo-Norman barbour, from Old French barbeor, from barbe (“beard”), from Latin barba.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈbar.bər]
• Hyphenation: bar‧bêr

Noun

barber (plural barber-barber)

1. (colloquial) barber (a person whose profession is cutting (usually male) customers' hair and beards)

   Synonyms: tukang cukur, pemangkas rambut

Alternative forms

• barbier (1901–1947)
• barbir

Further reading

• “barber” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Norwegian Bokmål

Verb

barber

1. imperative of barbere

Polish

Etymology

Borrowed from English barber. Doublet of balwierz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbar.bɛr/
• Rhymes: -arbɛr
• Syllabification: bar‧ber

Noun

barber m pers (female equivalent barberka)

1. barber (person whose profession is cutting male customers' hair and beards)

Declension

Declension of barber

	singular	plural
nominative	barber	barberzy/barbery (deprecative)
genitive	barbera	barberów
dative	barberowi	barberom
accusative	barbera	barberów
instrumental	barberem	barberami
locative	barberze	barberach
vocative	barberze	barberzy

Related terms

adjective

• barberingowy

 

noun

• barbering

 

Further reading

• barber in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• barber in Polish dictionaries at PWN