bark

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To make the short loud sound that a dog makes.

   The dogs barked at the stranger by the gate.

2. 2
   noun

   The short, loud sound a dog makes.

   We heard the bark of a dog somewhere in the distance.

3. 3
   verb

   To speak or shout in a sharp, angry way.

   The sergeant barked an order at the new recruits.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Bark has several unrelated origins. The verb for a dog’s cry is an ancient Germanic word found in Old English, while bark meaning the outer covering of a tree entered in the Middle English period from Old Norse and may be related to birch. Bark or barque meaning a boat also appeared in Middle English and comes from Latin barca, “ship’s boat.”

From Middle English barke (“boat”), from Middle French barque, from Late Latin barca, a regular syncope of Vulgar Latin *barica, from Classical Latin bāris, from Ancient Greek βᾶρις (bâris, “Egyptian boat”), from Coptic ⲃⲁⲁⲣⲉ (baare, “small boat”), from Demotic Egyptian br, from Egyptian bꜣjrb-bA-A-y:r*Z1-P1 (“transport ship”). Doublet of barge, barque and baris.

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary