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bar·ber (bärbər)
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n.
One whose business is to cut hair, usually of men and boys, and shave or trim beards.
tr.v. bar·bered, bar·ber·ing, bar·bers
1. To cut (the hair of someone).
2. To shave or trim (the beard of someone).

[Middle English, from Old French barbour, from Medieval Latin barbātōr, from Latin barba, beard; see bhardh-ā- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 
Bar·ber (bärbər), Samuel 1910-1981.
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American composer whose works include Adagio for Strings (1936) and the opera Vanessa (1958), for which he won a Pulitzer Prize.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.