English
barrette
Barrette comes from French barrette ‘small bar’, from Vulgar Latin *barra ‘barrier’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-1‘to bear, carry’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic *barō
- Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*barros1‘the bushy end’uncertain
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*barra2‘barrier’next step skipped: Frankish *bara
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400barre2‘beam, bar, gate, barrier’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600barre2
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbarre3‘a bar’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbarrette3‘small bar’
- Englishearliest quotation 1960barrette3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin barra
- 2 Wiktionary, French barre
- 3 Wiktionary, English barrette
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, John Updike, Run': “Growing sleepy, Rabbit stops before midnight at a roadside…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*bʰer-Wiktionary, Latin barra‘to bear, carry’next step skipped: Proto-Germanic *barō
- Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*barrosWiktionary, Latin barra‘the bushy end’uncertain
- Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*barraWiktionary, French barre‘barrier’next step skipped: Frankish *bara
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400barreWiktionary, French barre‘beam, bar, gate, barrier’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600barreWiktionary, French barre
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbarreWiktionary, English barrette‘a bar’
- Frenchc. 1600–presentbarretteWiktionary, English barrette‘small bar’
- Englishearliest quotation 1960barretteWiktionary, English barrette. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1960, John Updike, Run': “Growing sleepy, Rabbit stops before midnight at a roadside…”
The story
Borrowed from French barrette, from barre (‘a bar’) + -ette, literally a small bar.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
different, offer, difference, birth, transfer, reference, broad, bear, suffer, translation, prefer, relative, fortune, bread, extraordinary, burden, relation, differ, frustration, fury, relate, referendum, fertility, translate, bore, borne, breeze, referee, fertile, barn, baron, berth, broom, extravagant, bark, phosphorus, phosphate, euphoria, defer, confer, 156 more
through Vulgar Latin *barra ‘barrier’
through Old French barre ‘beam, bar, gate, barrier’
through French barre ‘a bar’
Today it means
noun A clasp or clip for gathering and holding the hair.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “barrette”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin barra, French barre. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- / barrette