An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/barsch

by Friedrich Kluge

barsch, adj., ‘rough, rude,’ a modern word, appearing also in Du. (barsch) and Sw. (barsk), but foreign to the UpG. dialects. It is not found in OTeut. In Swiss dialects the term is baröösch (with the accent on the second syllable), in which perhaps the base of barsch is preserved; Ital. brusco (Fr. brusque) may be connected with it. In Swiss occurs also barš in the phrase barš gâ, ‘to go alone’; it also means ‘without a hat, a coat.’ Both significations point to its deriv. from bar. Yet barsch may have originated in the Teut. root bars, ‘to be bristly, rough,’ mentioned under the preceding word, especially as Du. barsch means lit. ‘rough.’