Barrier

How to spell barrier

7 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce barrier

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does barrier mean?

1. nounA structure or obstacle that blocks movement or access, or anything that prevents progress or communication.

Barrier in a sentence

• The crowd pressed against the metal barrier at the concert.

• A language barrier made the negotiations slower than expected.

Where does barrier come from?

Language of origin: French

This word comes from the Old French barriere, meaning a fence, gate, or obstruction, which was built on the noun barre, a bar or rod placed across an opening to block it. That barre is also the ancestor of the English verb 'to bar' and the modern dance studio 'barre', all sharing the idea of a horizontal rod that stops or steadies. English took the word in during the 1300s, first describing the literal palisades and fences that defended a town, and the meaning later widened to cover any obstacle, whether a physical wall or an abstract obstruction such as a language barrier. The doubled 'r' that catches writers out reflects the French spelling, where the rolled consonant was written twice. Because the ending is the less common '-ier' rather than the more familiar '-er', many adults pause over whether the word finishes in '-ier' or '-er', which is the main spelling trap here.

How the word is built

• barr- (from Old French barre: a bar or rod)
• -ier (noun suffix denoting a thing that does an action)