Meanings
- A personification of alcoholic drink made from barley, particularly beer and whisky.First known use 17th c.
Blazing face: redhot. Too much John Barleycorn. Cure for a red nose.
1922 February 2, James Joyce, “[Episode 6: Hades]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], page 92
Synonyms & antonyms
nounan alcoholic beverage that is distilled rather than fermented
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
John (commonly used to personify a concept) + barleycorn; barley is used to produce malt, the source of most British alcoholic drink.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
John Barleycorn. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Barleycorn
“John Barleycorn.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Barleycorn. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “John Barleycorn,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/John%20Barleycorn.
Source: John Barleycorn on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.