Meanings
plural barbels · alternative obsolete barble
- A freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family.
The Barble fishes, if one of them chance to be engaged, will set the line against their backes, and with a fin they have, toothed like a sharp saw, presently saw and fret the same asunder.
1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLCSynonyms: barb
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family.
nounA barb or pap under the tongue of a cow or horse.
nounA whisker-like sensory organ, located around the mouth of certain fish, including carp, catfish, goatfish, sturgeon, and some types of shark.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinbarbus“barbel”
- Late Latinbarbulus
- Vulgar Latin*barbellus
- Old Frenchbarbel
- Middle Englishbarbel
- Englishbarbel
PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbel, from Old French barbel, from Vulgar Latin *barbellus, from Late Latin barbulus, diminutive of Latin barbus (“barbel”); barbus itself is from barba (“beard”). By surface analysis, Latin barb(us) (“beard, barbel”) + -el (diminutive suffix), and also, by surface analysis, barb (“sharp, extruding structure”) + -el (diminutive suffix).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Vulgar Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Catalan barb
- barbfish
Chinese Mandarin 魮 /𱇒
- 魮 /𱇒 (bí)fish
Czech parma
- parmafish
Dutch barbeel
- barbeelfish
Finnish barbi
- barbifish
French barbeau
- barbeaufish
German Barbe
- Barbefish
Hungarian márna, bajusz
- márnafish
- bajuszwhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Indonesian sungut
- sungutwhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Irish sprochaille
- sprochaillewhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Italian barbio, barbiglio
- barbiofish
- barbigliowhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Latin barbus
- barbusfish
Persian زردهپره, سبیلک
- زردهپره (zardeparre)fish
- سبیلک (sebilak)whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Polish brzana, wąsik
- brzanafish
- wąsikwhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Portuguese barbo, barbilhão
- barbofish
- barbilhãowhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
- barbilhowhisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Romanian mreană
- mreanăfish
Russian уса́ч
- уса́ч (usáč)fish
Slovak mrena
- mrenafish
Spanish barbo
- barbofish
Swedish barb
- barbfish
Ukrainian марена, вусач
- марена (marena)fish
- вусач (vusač)fish
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with barbel
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
barbel. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barbel
“barbel.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barbel. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barbel,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barbel.
Source: barbel on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.