Word.ws English Dictionary

barberry

/ˈbɑɹbɛɹi/

barberry noun: any of the thorny shrubs of genus Berberis, which bear yellow flowers and red or blue-black berries.

barberry: any of the thorny shrubs of genus Berberis, which bear yellow flowers and red or blue-black berries
Image: MPF, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

barberry (plural barberries)

  1. Any of the thorny shrubs of genus Berberis, which bear yellow flowers and red or blue-black berries.
    • BOlvs in Engliſh is called a morſell. It is a medicine laxatiue, in forme & faſhion it is meanely whole, & it is ſwallowed by litle gobbets. […] ℞. medulla caſiæ fiſtulæ newly drawen. ℥. j. or ʒ. x. the graines (that is the kernelles) of barbaries. ℈. ß. and with ſugar roſet [sugar compounded with...1583, Philip Barrough [i.e., Philip Barrow], “Of Making Bolus”, in The Methode of Phisicke, Conteyning the Causes, Signes, and Cures of Inward Diseases in Mans Body from the Head to the Foote. […]...
    Synonyms:
    berberis
  2. The edible fruit of these shrubs.

Proper noun capitalized: Barberry

Barberry

  1. (obsolete) Obsolete form of Beruwala.

barberry meaning in Urdu, Punjabi, Arabic and Persian

barberry in Urdu

Berberis
زِرِشْک ziriśk

barberry in Punjabi

Berberis
زِرِشْک ziriśk

barberry in Arabic

Berberis
بَرْبَارِيس barbārīs, زِرِشْك zirišk

barberry in Persian

Berberis
زرشک zerešk

Synonyms of barberry

Forms of barberry

pluralbarberries

Origin of barberry

From Middle English berberie, from Medieval Latin berberis (on which see Arabic بَرْبَارِيس (barbārīs)), influenced by berie (“berry”). Doublet of berberis and related to Berber.

Words formed from barberry

Phrases with barberry

Questions about barberry

What does barberry mean?
Barberry means any of the thorny shrubs of genus Berberis, which bear yellow flowers and red or blue-black berries.
What is barberry in Urdu?
Barberry in Urdu is زِرِشْک (ziriśk). See Barberry meaning in Urdu.
What part of speech is barberry?
Barberry can be a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce barberry?
Barberry is pronounced /ˈbɑɹbɛɹi/.
What is the plural of barberry?
The plural of barberry is barberries.

Words near barberry in the dictionary

  1. Barbero
  2. Barberos
  3. barberpole
  4. barberpoles
  5. barberries
  6. barberry
  7. barbers
  8. barbers' poles
  9. barbers' signs
  10. barbershop
  11. barbershop quartet

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: barberry (page history and authors); Barberry (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-barberry.wav.

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