Barley Definition

bärlē

noun

A grass in the genus Hordeum native to temperate regions, having flowers in terminal, often long-awned spikes and widely cultivated for its grain.

American Heritage

A cereal grass (Hordeum vulgare and related species) with dense, bearded spikes of flowers, each made up of three single-seeded spikelets.

Webster's New World

The grain of H. vulgare or its varieties, used in malt production and as food for livestock and humans.

American Heritage

Its grain, used in making malt, soups, etc.

Webster's New World

A cereal of the species Hordeum vulgare, or its grains, often used as food or to make beer and other malted drinks.

Wiktionary

Synonyms:

Other Word Forms of Barley

Singular:

barley

Plural:

barleys

Middle English barli, barly, from Old English (adj.) bærlīċ (“barley-like”), from bere (“barley”) (compare Scots bere ‘six-rowed barley’), from Proto-Germanic *baraz (compare Old Norse barr), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰars- ‘spike, prickle’ (compare Welsh bara ‘bread’, Latin far ‘spelt’, Serbo-Croatian бра̏шно/brȁšno ‘flour’, Albanian bar ‘grass’, Ancient Greek Φήρον (Phḗron, “plant deity”)).

From Wiktionary
Middle English barli from Old English bærlic bhares- in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition