different between barren vs grim

English

Etymology

From Middle English barein, barain, from Old French baraigne, baraing (“sterile; barren”), of obscure origin; probably from a Germanic language, perhaps Frankish *bar (“bare; barren”), from Proto-Germanic *bazaz (“bare”). More at bare.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?bæ??n/
• Rhymes: -ær?n
• Homophone: baron (in some accents)

Adjective

barren (comparative barrener or more barren, superlative barrenest or most barren)

1. (not comparable) Unable to bear children; sterile.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Julius Caesar:

     Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
     To touch Calpurnia; for our elders say,
     The barren, touched in this holy chase,
     Shake off their sterile curse.

   I silently wept as my daughter's husband rejected her. What would she do now that she was no longer a maiden but also barren?

2. Of poor fertility, infertile; not producing vegetation.
3. Bleak.
4. Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty.
   • 1843, William H. Prescott, History of the Conquest of Mexico

     brilliant but barren reveries

   • Augusr 28, 1731, Jonathan Swift, letter to John Gay

     But schemes are perfectly accidental. Some will appear barren of hints and matter, but prove to be fruitful.
5. Mentally dull; stupid.
   • 1599-1602, William Shakespeare, Hamlet, III, ii

     Set on some quantity of barren spectators to laugh too.

Synonyms

• sterile

Antonyms

• fertile
• fruitful

Translations

Noun

barren (plural barrens)

1. An area of low fertility and habitation, a desolate place.

   The pine barrens are a site lonely enough to suit any hermit.

Translations

Anagrams

• Barner

Basque

Pronunciation

• (standard) IPA^(key): /ba.ren/

Etymology 1

Adjective

barren (comparative barrenago, superlative barrenen, excessive barrenegi)

1. deep

Declension

Noun

barren inan

1. interior
2. guts, stomach
3. (figuratively) soul, spirit

Declension

Etymology 2

barren

1. A particle used to give certainty or emphasis.

Further reading

• “barren” in Euskaltzaindiaren Hiztegia, euskaltzaindia.eus
• “barren” in Orotariko Euskal Hiztegia, euskaltzaindia.eus

Catalan

Verb

barren

1. third-person plural present indicative form of barrar

Norwegian Bokmål

Noun

barren m

1. definite singular of barre

Norwegian Nynorsk

Noun

barren m

1. definite singular of barre

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?baren/, [?ba.r?n]

Verb

barren

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) present indicative form of barrer.
2. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present indicative form of barrer.

Swedish

Noun

barren

1. definite singular of barr
2. definite plural of barr

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???m/
• Rhymes: -?m

Etymology 1

From Middle English grim, from Old English grim, grimm, from Proto-West Germanic *grimm, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz, from Proto-Indo-European *g?rem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”). Noun sense derives from adjective, from 1620s.

Adjective

grim (comparative grimmer, superlative grimmest)

1. dismal and gloomy, cold and forbidding

   Life was grim in many northern industrial towns.
2. rigid and unrelenting

   His grim determination enabled him to win.

3. ghastly or sinister

   A grim castle overshadowed the village.

   • 2012 March 22, Scott Tobias, “The Hunger Games”, in AV Club:

     In movie terms, it suggests Paul Verhoeven in Robocop/Starship Troopers mode, an R-rated bloodbath where the grim spectacle of children murdering each other on television is bread-and-circuses for the age of reality TV, enforced by a totalitarian regime to keep the masses at bay.

4. disgusting; gross

   - Wanna see the dead rat I found in my fridge?
   - Mate, that is grim!

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

grim (plural grims)

1. (obsolete) specter, ghost, haunting spirit

Verb

grim (third-person singular simple present grims, present participle grimming, simple past and past participle grimmed)

1. (transitive, rare) To make grim; to give a stern or forbidding aspect to.

Etymology 2

From Middle English grim, grym, greme, from Old English *grimu, *grimmu, from Proto-Germanic *grimm?? (“anger, wrath”), from Proto-Indo-European *g?rem- (“to resound, thunder, grumble, roar”). Cognate with Middle Dutch grimme, Middle High German grimme f (“anger”), modern German Grimm m.

Noun

grim (uncountable)

1. (archaic) Anger, wrath.

Derived terms

• grimful
• grimless

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [????m?]

Etymology

From Old Norse grimmr, from Proto-Germanic *grimmaz.

Adjective

grim

1. ugly, unsightly
2. nasty

Inflection

Kalasha

Verb

grim

1. taking

Old English

Alternative forms

• grimm

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *grimm.

Cognate with Old Saxon grim, Old High German grim (German grimm, grimmig), Old Norse grimmr (Danish grim, Swedish grym); and with Greek ??????? (chremízo), Old Church Slavonic ??????? (gr?m?ti) (Russian ???????? (gremét?)), Latvian gremt.

Perhaps related in Old Norse to veiled or hooded, Grim is also an alternate name for Odin, who often went around disguised; compare the hooded appearance of The Grim Reaper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?rim/

Adjective

grim

1. fierce, severe, terrible, savage, cruel, angry

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: grim
  • Scots: grim
  • English: grim