bairn-time

noun

Offspring; the group of all offspring.

Meanings

nounbairn-time (plural bairn-times)

plural bairn-times

  1. obsoleteOffspring; the group of all offspring.

    4thly, A Stone cut out of the Mountain, ſhould come down, and God ſhould be avenged on the great ones of the Earth, and the Inhabitants of the Land, for their Wickedneſs; and then the Church ſhould come forth with a bony Bairn-time at her Back, of young Ones; […]

    1755, Some Remarkable Paſſages of the Life and Death of Mr. Alexander Peden. Late Miniſter of the Goſpel of New Glenluce in Galloway, Belfast: […] James Magee, page 33
    2 more examples

    And thus they have thought , that when a Family or Bairn-time incline to a Conſumption (which being a diſeaſe hereditary runs much in a blood) in that caſe it is good that they part Company, and live at a diſtance one from another, for that the diſeaſe is ſtrengthned by their ſocial conversation.

    1692, Thomas Bell, “Sermon Hoſea 2: 14: Therefore behold, I will allure her, I will bring her into the winderneſs, and ſpeak comfortably unto her”, in Nehemiah the Tirſhatha: or, The Character of a Good Commiſſioner. […], Edinburgh: […] George Mosman, page 84

    I had once a bony bairn-time of bairns (a great many good children) in Scotland, which they bereaved me of; ſome of whom they ſent to foreign lands and plantations, others they drowned in the ſea, others they killed in the fields upon gibbets and ſcaffolds, for which I will drive them out of their houſes, as ſheep are driven in a ſtormy day before the ſtorm, ſeeking for ſhelter, but finding none;

    1745 [1737], The Wonderful Scotch Prophecy: or, the Whole Viſions, Discoveries, and Warnings of the Dreadful and Terrible Judgements upon Scotland, England and Ireland, […], London: […] John Lewis, page 9

Origin

  1. Old Englishbearntēam
  2. Middle Englishbarntem
  3. Scotsbairntime
  4. Englishbairn-time

From Scots bairntime, from Middle English barntem, from Old English bearntēam. Influenced by time.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

bairn-time. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bairn-time

MLA

“bairn-time.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bairn-time. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “bairn-time,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/bairn-time.

Source: bairn-time on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.