Meanings
barter1
nounbarter (usually uncountable, plural barters)
plural barters
- uncountableusuallyAn exchange of goods or services without the use of money.
We had no money so we had to live by barter.
1 more example
Speculations in trade are not confined to the counter or to the counting-house. Lady Anne's fair hair and white teeth were as much objects of barter as any of the shawls or ribbons displayed in Bond Street. They were to be had in exchange for a suit of diamonds and an opera-box.
1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 11 - uncountableusuallyThe goods or services used in such an exchange.
The man used his watch as barter to pay for his tab.
verbbarter (third-person singular simple present barters, present participle bartering, simple past and past participle bartered)
present singular third person barters · participle present bartering · participle past bartered · past bartered
Barter2
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Frenchbarater
- Englishbarter
Late Middle English, from Old French barater.
More words from Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic مُقَايَضَة, قايض
- مُقَايَضَة (muqāyaḍa)exchange of goods or services
- قايضexchange goods or services without involving money
Bulgarian размя́на, ба́ртер
- размя́на (razmjána)exchange of goods or services
- ба́ртер (bárter)exchange of goods or services
- разменям (razmenjam)exchange goods or services without involving money
- правя бартерexchange goods or services without involving money
Catalan bescanvi
- bescanviexchange of goods or services
Chinese Mandarin 易貨貿易 /易货贸易, 以物易物
- 易貨貿易 /易货贸易 (yìhuò màoyì)goods or services
- 以物易物 (yǐwùyìwù)exchange of goods or services
- 物物交換 /物物交换 (wùwù jiāohuàn)exchange of goods or services
- 以物換物 /以物换物 (yǐwùhuànwù)exchange of goods or services
- 實物交易 /实物交易 (shíwù jiāoyì)exchange of goods or services
- 以物易物 (yǐwùyìwù)exchange goods or services without involving money
- 物物交換 /物物交换 (wùwù jiāohuàn)exchange goods or services without involving money
- 以物換物 /以物换物 (yǐwùhuànwù)exchange goods or services without involving money
- 實物交易 /实物交易 (shíwù jiāoyì)exchange goods or services without involving money
Czech směnný obchod, výměnný obchod
- směnný obchodexchange of goods or services
- výměnný obchodexchange of goods or services
- barterový obchodexchange of goods or services
Danish byttehandel, tuskhandel
- byttehandelexchange of goods or services
- tuskhandelexchange of goods or services
Dutch ruil, ruilhandel
- ruilexchange of goods or services
- ruilhandelexchange of goods or services
- ruilenexchange goods or services without involving money
- ruilebuitenexchange goods or services without involving money
Finnish vaihtokauppa, vaihtokauppa
- vaihtokauppagoods or services
- vaihtokauppaexchange of goods or services
- tehdä vaihtokauppaexchange goods or services without involving money
- vaihtaaexchange goods or services without involving money
French troc, troquer
- trocexchange of goods or services
- troquerexchange goods or services without involving money
German Tauschware, Tauschhandel
- Tauschwaregoods or services
- Tauschhandelexchange of goods or services
- Tauschgeschäftexchange of goods or services
- tauschenexchange goods or services without involving money
Greek ανταλλάσσω
- ανταλλάσσω (antallásso)exchange goods or services without involving money
Hawaiian kūʻai
- kūʻaiexchange goods or services without involving money
Hungarian csere, cserekereskedelem
- csereexchange of goods or services
- cserekereskedelemexchange of goods or services
- elcserélexchange goods or services without involving money
Indonesian barter, urup
- barterexchange of goods or services
- urupexchange of goods or services
- imbal beliexchange of goods or services
Irish malairt
- malairtexchange of goods or services
Italian baratto, barattare
- barattoexchange of goods or services
- barattareexchange goods or services without involving money
Japanese 物々交換, バーター
- 物々交換 (butsubutsu kōkan)exchange of goods or services
- バーター (bātā)exchange of goods or services
Korean 물물교환
- 물물교환 (mulmulgyohwan)exchange of goods or services
Malay barter
- barterexchange of goods or services
Māori tauhokohoko
- tauhokohokoexchange goods or services without involving money
Norwegian Bokmål byttehandel
- byttehandelexchange of goods or services
Persian مبادله, مبادله کردن
- مبادله (mobâdele)exchange of goods or services
- مبادله کردن (mobâdele kardan)exchange goods or services without involving money
Polish barter, barter
- bartergoods or services
- barterexchange of goods or services
- frymarkexchange of goods or services
- uprawiać barterexchange goods or services without involving money
- frymarczyćexchange goods or services without involving money
Portuguese bem, permuta
- bemgoods or services
- permutaexchange of goods or services
- escamboexchange of goods or services
- trocarexchange goods or services without involving money
Russian ба́ртер, товарообме́н
- ба́ртер (bártɛr)exchange of goods or services
- товарообме́н (tovaroobmén)exchange of goods or services
- менова́я торго́вля (menovája torgóvlja)exchange of goods or services
- проводи́ть ба́ртерные сде́лки (provodítʹ bártɛrnyje sdélki)exchange goods or services without involving money
Spanish trueque, trocar
- truequeexchange of goods or services
- trocarexchange goods or services without involving money
Swedish byteshandel, idka byteshandel
- byteshandelexchange of goods or services
- idka byteshandelexchange goods or services without involving money
Tagalog tuwayan
- tuwayanexchange of goods or services
Turkish takas
- takasexchange of goods or services
Vietnamese đổi
- đổiexchange goods or services without involving money
Yiddish אויסבײַט
- אויסבײַט (oysbayt)exchange of goods or services
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with barter
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
APA
barter. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barter
MLA
“barter.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barter. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barter,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barter.
Source: barter on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.