An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Barn

by Friedrich Kluge

Barn, m., ‘crib, hayrack above the crib,’ from the equiv. MidHG. barn, m., OHG. barno, m.; AS. bern, E. barn, is equiv. to Germ. Scheuer. The Germ. and Eng. words are not, perhaps, identical, but only of a cognate stem; the stem of the Eng. word is bar-, which appears in Goth. *baris, ‘barley,’ AS. bere, E. barley, and is cognate with Lat. far, farris, ‘spelt,’ OBulg. bŭrŭ, ‘a species of millet’; AS. bern is explained from bere-ern, ‘barley-house.’