Barney

See also: barney

Translingual

Proper noun

Barney

1. A botanical plant name author abbreviation for botanist E.E. Barney (fl. 1877-79).

Further reading

• Author query of the International Plant Names Index

English

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑɹni/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɑːni/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː(ɹ)ni
• Hyphenation: Bar‧ney

Etymology 1

From either the Old English personal name Bera (genitive singular Beran) or from Old English beren (“growing with barley”) + īeġ (“island”).

Proper noun

Barney (countable and uncountable, plural Barneys)

1. A male given name:
   1. A male given name transferred from the surname.
   2. A diminutive of the male given names Barnabas, Barnaby, Bernard, and Barnett.
   3. A male given name from Old English.
2. A surname:
   1. A surname transferred from the given name.
   2. A surname from Old English.
      1. A surname from Old English [in turn from placenames] from the place name Barney, Old English "barn/barley island".
      2. A surname from Old English [in turn transferred from the given name].
3. A placename:
   1. A village in Fulmodeston parish, North Norfolk district, Norfolk, England (OS grid ref TF9932).
   2. A place in the United States:
      1. An unincorporated community in Faulkner County, Arkansas.
      2. An unincorporated community in Brooks County, Georgia.
      3. An unincorporated community in Madison County, Iowa.
      4. A minor city in Richland County, North Dakota.

Quotations

• 1977 February, Richard F.Snow, Barney Oldfield, American Heritage:

  "Who the hell do you think you are — Barney Oldfield?" That was the motorcycle cop’s standard question for fifty years, and even today you can hear it once in a while if you get caught speeding.

• 1999, Ian Rankin, Dead Souls, →ISBN, page 27:

  "Barney Mee?" he said.
  More laughter on the line. "I never knew why everyone called me that."
  Rebus could have told him: after Barney Rubble in The Flintstones. He could have added: because you were a dense wee bastard.

Derived terms

• Barn
• Barne
• Barneyesque
• Barney Rubble
• Barneys Reef
• Barney-style

Etymology 2

From the character Barney of the television show Barney and Friends.

Noun

Barney (plural Barneys)

1. A television character popular among children, especially one who is a vividly colored animal mascot.
   • 2019 May 25, caterpillarmiss, “Nina is so Disney she brought her own character mascot”, in reddit.com‎^[1]:

     She's not joking [bitch] when she says she wants to be the Barney of drag!

   • 2025 January 28, mpete76, “Paul Reubens (aka Peewee Herman) comes out *posthumously*”, in reddit.com‎^[2]:

     Everyone knew, nobody cared. At least the kids didn’t. The stick up the arse parents probably would have, but Pee-Wee was pretty much the Barney of the Gen-X era. As per usual, they weren’t paying attention anyway.

   • 2023 June 16, docpepson, “McDonalds Grimace”, in reddit.com‎^[3]:

     Grimace, the Barney of Gen X.

Anagrams

• brayne, nearby