barling

B3A1R1L1I1N1G2

noun

The smallest pig in a litter; runt.

OriginMiddle English *barling →
UncommonScrabble 10
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Meanings

barling1

nounbarling (plural barlings)

plural barlings

  1. UKdialectalThe smallest pig in a litter; runt.

barling2

nounbarling (plural barlings)

plural barlings · alternative berling

  1. ScotlandUKdialectalrareA pole; (carpentry) the cross rafter of a roof.

    On shallow waters they moved upstream using small barlings; [...]

    2005, V. D. Golubchikova, Z. Í. Khvtísíashvílí, E. R. Akbalʹi︠a︡n, Severnai︠a︡ ėnt︠s︡iklopedii︠a︡
    2 more examples

    A tripod can be formed of three hop poles or barlings. The former can be laid in depths up to 2^ metres and the latter in depths up to about 5 metres at low water if the tidal range does not exceed about 3 metres.

    1970, Admiralty Manual of Hydrographic Surveying - Volume 2

    [...] one pair of fetters, one pair of couplings, 2 barlings [poles], 2s 6d; one saddle, one bridle, one panel, 12s; one corn hutch and 1 chaff bin, 6s 8d; one plough, one pair of harness and one coulter, 2 plough sha-[rest torn] with chains, 14s.

    1981, Ann Hughes, W. R. Owens, Seventeenth-century England, a Changing Culture

Barling3

proper noun
  1. A surname.
  2. A village in Barling Magna parish, Rochford district, Essex, England (OS grid ref TQ9389).
  3. A city in Sebastian County, Arkansas, United States.

Origin

barling · noun

  1. Middle Englishbar
  2. Middle English*barling
  3. Englishbarling

From Middle English *barling, diminutive of Middle English bar, bor (“boar”), equivalent to boar + -ling. Compare Scots bar, bare, bair (“boar”).

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

barling · noun

  1. Proto-Germanic*barō“beam, bar, barrier”
  2. Old Norseberlingr“bar, pole”
  3. Middle Englishbarling
  4. Englishbarling

From Middle English barling, berling, from Old Norse berlingr (“bar, pole”) (found in berlings-áss (“bar, beam, plank, rail”)), a diminutive derived from Proto-Germanic *barō (“beam, bar, barrier”); equivalent to bar + -ling. Cognate with Swedish bärling (“pole, bar”).

More words from Middle English, Old Norse, Proto-Germanic

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

blaringglabrin
Cite this entry
APA

barling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barling

MLA

“barling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barling. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barling,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barling.

Source: barling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.