Meanings
plural byres
- UKA barn, especially one used for keeping cattle in.
It was here in the kitchen, in the passage, In the mews in the harn in the byre in the market-place [...]
1935, T.S. Eliot, Murder in the Cathedral, Part II2 more examples
’Children crawled over each other like little grey worms in the gutters,’ he said. ‘The only red things about them were their buttocks and they were raw. Their faces looked as if snails had slimed on them and their mothers were like great sick beasts whose byres had never been cleared.[…]’
1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 7, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLCThe visitors came up the narrow road through the forest from the south; they filled the spare-rooms, they bunked out in cow byres and barns.
1999, Neil Gaiman, Stardust, page 9 (2001 Perennial Edition)
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishbȳre
- Middle Englishbire
- Englishbyre
From Middle English bire, bier, byr, from Old English bȳre.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek μάνδρα
- μάνδρα (mándra)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Arabic حَظِيرَة, زَرِيبَة
- حَظِيرَة (ḥaẓīra)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- زَرِيبَة (zarība)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Bulgarian обор
- обор (obor)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Chinese 牛舍, 牛棚
- 牛舍 (niúshè)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- 牛棚 (niúpéng)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Danish stald
- stalda barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Dutch koestal
- koestala barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Esperanto bovejo
- bovejoa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Finnish navetta
- navettaa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
French étable
- établea barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
German Kuhstall
- Kuhstalla barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Greek βουστάσιο
- βουστάσιο (voustásio)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Hebrew רֶפֶת
- רֶפֶתa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Hindi गौशाला, अश्वशाला
- गौशाला (gauśālā)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- अश्वशाला (aśvaśālā)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Hungarian tehénistálló
- tehénistállóa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Irish cró beithíoch, bóitheach
- cró beithíocha barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- bóitheacha barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Italian vaccheria
- vaccheriaa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Latvian kuts
- kutsa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Norwegian Bokmål fjøs, fenafjøs
- fjøsa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- fenafjøsa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Polish obora
- oboraa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Portuguese vacaria
- vacariaa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Russian хлев, коро́вник
- хлев (xlev)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- коро́вник (koróvnik)a barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Scottish Gaelic bàthach
- bàthacha barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Spanish vaquería, vaqueriza
- vaqueríaa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
- vaquerizaa barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Welsh beudy
- beudya barn, especially one used for keeping cattle
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with byre
Anagrams
Cite this entry
byre. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/byre
“byre.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/byre. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “byre,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/byre.
Source: byre on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.