Word.ws English Dictionary

barbel

/ˈbɑːbəl/US/ˈbɑːɹbəl/

barbel noun: a freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family.

barbel: a freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family
Image: Gilles San Martin, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

barbel (plural barbels)

  1. A freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family.
    • The Barble fishes, if one of them chance to be engaged, will set the line against their backes, and with a fin they have, toothed like a sharp saw, presently saw and fret the same asunder.1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC
    Synonyms:
    barb
  2. A barb or pap under the tongue of a cow or horse.
    Synonyms:
    barb
  3. A whisker-like sensory organ, located around the mouth of certain fish, including carp, catfish, goatfish, sturgeon, and some types of shark.
    Synonyms:
    barb

barbel meaning in Tamil, Indonesian and Persian

barbel in Tamil

தொடுமுளை, தாடி போன்ற தசையிழை அமைவு

barbel in Indonesian

whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
sungut

barbel in Persian

fish
زردهپره zardeparre
whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
سبیلک sebilak

Synonyms of barbel

Forms of barbel

pluralbarbels
alternative form (obsolete)barble

Origin of barbel

PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbel, from Old French barbel, from Vulgar Latin *barbellus, from Late Latin barbulus, diminutive of Latin barbus (“barbel”); barbus itself is from barba (“beard”). By surface analysis, Latin barb(us) (“beard, barbel”) + -el (diminutive suffix), and also, by surface analysis, barb (“sharp, extruding structure”) + -el (diminutive suffix).

Words formed from barbel

Words that rhyme with barbel

Questions about barbel

What does barbel mean?
Barbel means a freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family.
What is barbel in Tamil?
Barbel in Tamil is தொடுமுளை, தாடி போன்ற தசையிழை அமைவு. See Barbel meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is barbel?
Barbel is a noun.
How do you pronounce barbel?
Barbel is pronounced /ˈbɑːbəl/ (UK).
What is the plural of barbel?
The plural of barbel is barbels.

Words near barbel in the dictionary

  1. Barbee
  2. barbegazi
  3. barbegazis
  4. barbeiro
  5. barbeiros
  6. barbel
  7. barbel steed
  8. barbeled
  9. barbeled houndshark
  10. barbeled houndsharks
  11. barbelgudgeon

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: barbel (page history and authors); barbel (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-barbel.wav.

Cite this entry: “barbel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/barbel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.