barbern.
/ˈbɑːbə/, U.S. /ˈbɑrbər/ 1.
a. A person who shaves, cuts, or styles hair (esp. men's hair) or facial hair as an occupation. Also occasionally figurative: a person who cuts something short.In earlier times barbers also carried out minor surgery, bloodletting, and dentistry. See also barber-surgeon n. at Compounds 2.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > barbers and hairdressers > [noun]
barberc1330
cutterc1425
clipperc1440
raster cloth1440
poller1578
trimmer1583
dressera1596
shavester1620
razor-chirurgeon1624
suds-monger1638
tonsor1656
hair-man1689
head-dresser1697
friseur1750
hairdresser1771
scraper1791
depilator1836
coiffeur1847
Figaro1864
strap1864
tonsorialist1869
trichotomist1875
nai1883
hair-stylist1935
stylist1937
styler1960
crimper1966
Sweeney1966
scissorsmith2002
society > leisure > the arts > literature > prose > non-fiction > summary or epitome > [noun] > summarizing or abridging > one who
abbreviator1529
abridger1555
summarist1577
summister1577
summulary1580
summer-up1599
summist1602
breviate-maker1611
epitomist1611
epitomizer1615
barber1616
breviarist1621
epitomator1621
summulist1635
abbreviarist1679
breviator1679
compendiarist1679
compendiator1679
curtailer1724
literator1785
summarizer1861
condenser1868
trimmer1876
c1330 (?a1300) Sir Tristrem (1886) l. 684 A barbour was redi þare.
c1390 Roberd of Cisyle (Vernon) (1930) l. 169 He heet a barbur him bifore, Þat as a fool he schulde be schore.
a1400 tr. Lanfranc Sci. Cirurgie (Ashm.) (1894) 298 (MED) Blood-letyng...falliþ for oure craft, þouȝ we for pride take it to barbouris & to wommen; &...principali for cirurgians.
1451 Grant of Arms in S. Young Ann. Barber-surgeons London (1890) 432 The Maisters of Barbory and Surgery within the craft of Barbours..praying me..to devise hem a conysauns & syne in fourme of armes..y have devysed a Conysaunce in fourme of Armes.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) iii. ii. 90 For fere and doubte of the barbours, he made hys doughters to lerne shaue.
?1530 tr. Compost of Ptholomeus xl. sig. m.iv He that is borne vnder this Planet of Mars..shall be a great walker, & a maker of swordes and knyues, and a sheder of mannes blode..and good to be a barboure and a blode letter, and to drawe tethe.
1548 tr. M. Luther Chiefe Articles Christen Faythe sig. Dv A good diligente barber must haue his mynde and eyes very sharpely fixed, and attendaunt vpon the rasoure and vpon the heares.
1616 B. Jonson Epicœne iii. ii, in Wks. I. 554 An excellent barber of prayers. View more context for this quotation
a1625 J. Boys Wks. (1629) 59 Like Barbars, who cut all other except themselves.
1720 D. Defoe Mem. Cavalier 15 No Surgeon to be had, but a sorry Country Barber.
1837 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece IV. xxvii. 1 He took his seat in a barber's shop.
1889 ‘A Society Lady’ Secret Revealed iv. 44 If the hair is desired cut into a fringe or pompon, go to a good hair-dresser or ladies' barber and have it done properly.
1941 P. Hamilton Hangover Square (1974) 174 The barber did not talk... Only once he asked, in a formal voice, ‘Is the razor to your liking, sir?’
1974 Eng. Jrnl. 63 82 Do teachers see themselves as barbers of language, committed to keeping English well-cropped and tidy?
2019 Gazette (Essex) (Nexis) 4 June A barber who spends her days off trimming the hair of former homeless people is a cut above the rest.
b. In the genitive. The establishment where a barber works; a barber's shop.
Π
1600 W. Shakespeare Much Ado about Nothing iii. i. 40 Hath any man seene him at the Barbers?
1711 R. Steele Spectator No. 2. ⁋2 He has his Periwig powdered at the Barber's as you go into the Rose.
?1774 R. Sanders Lucubrations Gaffer Graybeard III. l. 89 When he came to the barber's, with his wife and two daughters, John Brass-Kettle happened to be there.
1872 Our Boys & Girls May 316/2 I'll take you to the barber's with me some o' these days.
1960 L. Holton Pact with Satan viii. 76 Tino, the priest learned, was at Maxie's the barber on the corner, and he found him having a manicure.
2001 Evening Standard 21 Sept. (ES Mag.) 20/3 Sick of boy band-isation of the mullet and mohawk, trendster blokes are now requesting boring, school-parting hair down at the barber's.
2022 Herald Sun (Melbourne) (Weekend ed.) (Nexis) 26 Mar. 3 The barber is my favourite place to go.
c. Chiefly Australian. A sheep shearer. Also more fully sheep barber, wool barber.
Π
1836 Vermont Chron. 21 July 116/5 It is a piece of good old advice to buy your rams a little before shearing time, if possible; and a very necessary modern addition, to make the opportunity of purchasing at the farmer's house, while you see the animal..before he has been decked out and trimmed for show by the sheep barber.
1910 Bulletin (Sydney) 22 Dec. 13/4 An extra stick of tobacco was awarded each barber who shaved over 50 jumbucks a day.
1984 W. W. Ammon et al. Working Lives 191 During the shearing season the passing teams of ‘wool barbers’ helped a lot as they earned good money and were big spenders.
2022 @llamasoft_ox 20 Apr. in twitter.com (accessed 14 June 2022) The barber usually visits some time in June. I am sure Panda [sc. a sheep] will be a bit freaked out by the process..but afterwards he will be free of wool.
2. colloquial. Chiefly Canadian and New Zealand. (A name for) a bitterly cold coastal wind which seems to ‘cut’ the face. Also: = frost smoke n. at frost n. Compounds 4.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > wind > [noun] > cold or cool wind
barber1830
sniveller1834
glacier breeze1930
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > cloud > mist > [noun] > thick mist or fog > sea-fog > in high latitudes
frost rime1659
frost smoke1748
barber1830
Arctic sea smoke1929
1818 Edinb. Mag. & Literary Misc. Jan. 17/2 (heading) Vapour rising from the Sea in Winter, called in Halifax ‘The Barber’.
1832 J. McGregor Brit. Amer. I. 133 The keen north-west wind, during winter, is often called the ‘Barber’ in America.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk. 78 In meteorology, barber is a singular vapour rising in streams from the sea surface—owing probably to exhalations being condensed into a visible form, on entering a cold atmosphere. It is well known on the shores of Nova Scotia.
1914 J. S. Angus Gloss. Shetland Dial. Barber, a haze which rises from the surface of water with a very keen freezing.
1937 J. Elliott Firth of Wellington i. 22 Here [i.e. in Grey Gorge] in winter raged an icy blast known as ‘the barber’, for it was as keen as the sharpest razor.
2003 Halifax Daily News (Nova Scotia) (Nexis) 11 Dec. 40 The Newfoundland Barber is one of the nastiest.
2016 N.Z. Herald (Nexis) 13 June I stood in the middle of Mawhera Quay and faced the barber head on.
Compounds
C1. General use as a modifier, as in barber salon, barber-surgery, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > surgeon > [noun] > barber-surgeon > occupation or practice of
barber-surgeryc1380
?c1430 (?1383) J. Wyclif Sel. Eng. Wks. (1871) III. 282 (MED) Who comeþ to ony holi ordris wiþouten extorsion of money for barbour fees, and grete raunsons for letteris?
c1580 ( in J. D. Marwick Extracts Rec. Burgh Edinb. (1869) I. 102 Our saidis craftis of Surregenie or Barbour craft.
1645 J. Milton Colasterion 12 And like an able text man slits it into fowr, that hee may the better come at it with his Barbar Surgery.
1860 J. Thompson Let. 21 Dec. in W. Still Underground Rail Road (1872) 107 I was engaged at New York, in the barber business, with a friend, and was doing very well.
1979 Sydney Morning Herald (Good Weekend Mag.) 1 Sept. 15/4 Cheap restaurants, second-hand clothing stores, taverns and barber colleges.
2010 G. K. Emerson Greatest of These 62 Jesse..went into the front room where the comb, barber scissors, straight razor and shaving mug were kept on a shelf by the mirror.
2022 Observer (Kampala, Uganda) (Nexis) 12 May There is a phone store next to a barber salon with two goats outside on ropes.
C2.
barber-monger n. depreciative rare a man who frequently visits the barber's shop. Now chiefly in echoes of Shakespeare; see quot. 1608.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [noun] > dandy
popa1500
miniona1513
prick-me-daintya1529
puppy?1544
velvet-coat1549
skipjack1554
coxcomb1567
musk cat?1567
physbuttocke1570
Adonis?1571
Adon1590
foretop1597
musk-cod1600
pretty fellow1600
sparkc1600
spangle-baby1602
flash1605
barber-monger1608
cocoloch1610
dapperling1611
fantastica1613
feather-cock1612
trig1612
jack-a-dandy?1617
gimcrack1623
satinist1639
powder puffa1653
fop1676
prig1676
foplinga1681
cockcomb1684
beau garçona1687
shape1688
duke1699
nab1699
smirk1699
beau1700
petty master1706
moppet1707
Tom Astoner1707
dapper1709
petit maître1711
buck1725
toupee1727
toupet1728
toupet-man1748
jemmy1753
jessamy1753
macaroni1764
majoc1770
monkeyrony1773
dandyc1780
elegant1780
muscadin1794
incroyable1797
beauty man1800
bang-up1811
natty1818
ruffian1818
exquisite1819
heavy swell1819
marvellous1819
bit of stuff1828
merveilleux1830
fat1832
squirt1844
dandyling1846
ineffable1859
guinea pig1860
Dundreary swell1862
masher1872
dude1877
mash1879
dudette1883
dand1886
heavy gunner1890
posh1890
nut1904
smoothie1929
fancy-pants1930
saga boy1941
fancy Dan1943
1608 W. Shakespeare King Lear vii. 30 You whorson cullyonly barber-munger, draw. View more context for this quotation
1903 Wagga Wagga (New S. Wales) Express 6 June 6/1 ‘Ye sneakin' thief! Ye whinin', lily-livered beggar! Ye mealy-faced barber-monger!’ gasped Mistress Hammond.
2019 W. J. Williams Quillifer the Knight (e-book ed.) 531 ‘Think you I had forgotten you, barber-monger?’ He thrust his face at mine, and his hand clutched at my collar.
barber's basin n. a wide, broad-edged bowl, typically made of brass, pewter, or tin-glazed earthenware, with a semicircular opening in the rim designed to fit against a man's throat while he is shaved by a barber (now historical). Also, in later use: a washbasin with a notch in the edge to accommodate a person's neck while his or her hair is being washed (more commonly called a backwash basin).Basins of the earlier type may also have been used by barber-surgeons to catch blood during bloodletting.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > implements used in styling the hair > [noun] > basin or dish
trimming-basin1683
barber's basin1755
sud-dish1892
a1400 MS Trin. Cambr. O.9.39 in Crafte of Lymmyng (2016) 32 (MED) Make hote watre on the fire, and put yn a good large bolle or ells ain a barbers basyn þat be clene.
1572 J. Higgins Huloet's Dict. (new ed.) sig. Dii/2 Basin that a barber vseth, a barbers basin, Concha, vel peluis tonsoria.
1653 in Proc. Soc. Antiquaries Scotl. 1888–9 (1889) 23 302 One old broken barbour's basine.
1755 T. Smollett tr. M. de Cervantes Don Quixote I. iii. xi. 164 Who that hears your worship call a barber's bason the helmet of Mambrino..must be very much crazed in his understanding.
1855 New Monthly Mag. Nov. 281 Perfectly beardless, he has, nevertheless, been brought before the magistrate for stealing a barber's basin.
1964 Daily Mail 12 Sept. 8/1 Very very rarely you'll see a barber's pole with a brass barber's basin at the end.
2011 B. Cohn To catch a Catch 47 Mario tilted the comfortable chair backward against the rounded rim of the special barber's basin and began shampooing Brett's hair.
barber's itch n. a condition affecting the skin in areas from which the hair has been shaved, esp. in the beard area of men, marked by pustular inflammation with soreness or itching, caused by fungal or bacterial infection of the hair follicles or by irritation from ingrowing hairs.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > fungoid disease
barber's itch1890
barber's rash1906
1837 Morning Herald (N.Y.) 4 Aug. (advt.) ‘Salt Rheum, Ringworm, Jackson or Barber's Itch’, and all other diseases of the skin, are effectually and speedily cured by the use of ‘Sands' Remedy For Salt Rheum’.
1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. I Barber's itch, tinea barbæ.
2000 Daily Tel. 8 June 24/2 Sycosis barbae—or barber's itch—is a bacterial infection of the hair follicles.
barber's knife n. = straight razor n. at straight adj., n., and adv. Compounds 1c.
ΚΠ
1493 in Acts Lords of Council Civil Causes (1839) I. 282/2 A caise wt thre barbouris knyffis, twa pare of barbouris syssouris.
1538 T. Elyot Dict. Nouacula, a barbers knyfe or raser.
1757 J. Shebbeare Occas. Critic 47 She called for a Barber's Knife..as if to pair her Nails.
1885 C. Geikie Hours with Bible V. xix. 449 Ezekiel was to take a barber's knife, and shave off his hair and his beard.
1922 N.Y. Times 4 Feb. 3/8 The barber's knife spared nothing, for Landru's head was shaved as bare as his face.
2019 Times of India (Nexis) 8 Nov. In retaliation, the man's associates allegedly attacked him with a barber's knife.
barber's music n. (a) informal music of a kind formerly made by customers in barber's shops, and characterized as being amateurish or dissonant (now historical and rare); (b) barbershop music (see barbershop n. 2) (rare).The practice of customers in barber's shops playing music to pass the time, often using instruments provided for the purpose by the barber, was common from the 16th to the 18th cent.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > [noun] > discordant music
barber's music1660
noise music1946
1660 S. Pepys Diary 5 June (1970) I. 169 My Lord called for the Lieutenant's Gitterne, and with two Candlesticks with money in them for Symballs we made..barber's Musique.
1776 J. Hawkins Gen. Hist. Sci. & Pract. Music VI. ii. 17 In former time 't hath been upbrayded thus, That barber's musick was most barbarous.
1915 Colour Jan. 206/1 There was a crowd of us awaiting our turn for our Xmas and New Year's hair-trim..there was little to suggest the ancient traditional atmosphere. No barber's basin..no barber's music (horrid, of your own making on the shop instrument), not even a pole outside!
2002 Sunday Capital (Annapolis, Maryland) 26 May d5/3 The first American ‘barber's music’ was probably strummed and vocalized in the South.
barber's rash n. inflammation of shaved skin, esp. in the beard area; spec. = barber's itch n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > fungoid disease
barber's itch1890
barber's rash1906
1888 Daily Bull. (Honolulu) 6 Feb. Even a slight touch of barber's rash on the faces of reporters is mistaken for the more serious affection [sc. smallpox].
1908 in D. Knocker Accidents in Medico-legal Aspect (1912) 1063 The fact that this barber's rash appeared soon after the plaintiff had been cut, and in the near neighbourhood of the cut, is evidence that the disease was contracted in the defendant's shop from the use of something which was infected.
2014 Pontefract Expess (Nexis) 28 Apr. I like having a beard, mainly because when I did shave I got barber's rash, in other words, a spotty neck and I think I'd rather have hairs on my chin in preference to a spotty neck.
barber-surgeon n. a barber who (also) practises surgery or dentistry (now historical except in the name of Barber-Surgeons' Hall in London).In 1540 two London companies, the Company of Barbers and the Fellowship of Surgeons, were united by Act of Parliament as the Company of Barbers and Surgeons, whose members were sometimes referred to as barber-surgeons; their hall came to be known as Barber-Surgeons' Hall. In 1745 the company was divided again into two distinct corporations.
ΘΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > healer > surgeon > [noun] > barber-surgeon
brass bason1598
razor-chirurgeon1624
1561 H. Machyn Diary (1848) 252 The xxiiij day of Feybruary whent to hang xviij men and ij women..the barbur-surgens had on of them to be a notheme at ther halle.
1588 W. Clowes Prooued Pract. Young Chirurgians 49 A Barber Surgion, whose name is called William Clarke..did in his maisters absence (by the intisement of the deuill) cut his owne throte with a knife.
1626 J. Smith Accidence Young Sea-men 4 A certificate from the Barber-surgions Hall of his sufficiency.
1778 J. Huntington Let. 1 Jan. in G. Washington Papers (2003) Revolutionary War Ser. XIII. 101 A Barber Surgeon who can let Blood..will do as well.
1856 A. Manning Tasso & Leonora 100 I am off to the Barber-surgeon's to buy some freckle-water for Madama Leonora.
1989 O. V. Vijayan After the Hanging 104 They watched old Muslims sit stooped, hollow goats' horns stuck on their shaven heads to let barber-surgeons draw out impure blood.
2017 Times 14 Dec. 61/3 His grandfather had been a barber-surgeon who ‘used to amputate people's limbs alongside giving them a good shave’.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
barberv.
/ˈbɑːbə/, U.S. /ˈbɑrbər/ 1. intransitive. To work as a barber; to cut, shave, or style hair or facial hair.
ΘΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify the hair [verb (intransitive)] > cut
roundc1450
crop1796
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify the hair [verb (intransitive)] > shave the beard
shavec1405
barb1583
1605 R. Underwood New Anatomie 38 Some haue the skill To Barber, and to Butcher to.
1880 Hist. Morrow County & Ohio iii. 573/2 He remained in the city some six months, and then went to Easton, Pa., where he began barbering.
1951 J. Kerouac On Road: Orig. Scroll (2007) 241 That's when my father was still barbering a bit.
1981 N. Gordimer July's People 153 His familiar head, newly shaved by a villager who barbered under a tree.
2020 Falmouth Packet (Nexis) 13 Feb. While currently barbering on his own, there is a second chair available if the right person comes along.
2. transitive. To cut, shave, or style the hair or facial hair of (a person); to cut, shave, or style (hair or facial hair). Also in extended use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > beautify (the hair) [verb (transitive)]
dressa1400
cherish1519
addressa1522
barbera1616
do1750
coif1835
coiffure1906
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) ii. ii. 231 Our Courteous Anthony..Being barber'd ten times o're, goes to the Feast. View more context for this quotation
1727 Surprizing Life & Death Faustus xxxii. 63 They smote his Head off, and when it came to be barbred, it troubled Faustus his Conscience.
1816 J. Gilchrist Philos. Etymol. 145 Great grammarians..capable of mending our standard compositions, and of barbering them into the fashion.
1877 E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. 15/1 I alus barber my son o' Setterda' neet.
1904 Windsor Mag. Jan. 288/2 These latter [sc. tondeurs] will ‘barber’ a dog for a couple of francs.
1963 Times 12 Mar. p. vi/4 Light's noble belt of parklands around the capital has been so barbered and coiffured that rose gardens and ornamental ponds begin to replace gum-trees and native grasses.
2003 Charleston (W. Va.) Gaz. (Nexis) 21 Feb. He finally took mom's advice and barbered his long, Afro-like locks into a much more conventional style.
Derivatives
ˈbarbered adj. trimmed or groomed by or as by a barber; (in extended use, of grass, etc.) cut closely.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > people with styles of hair > [adjective]
coiffured1907
barbered1910
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > management of plants > [adjective] > of grass: cut closely
shaven1645
close-cut1864
barbered1910
1795 J. Savage in J. Cotes & P. Hall Diaria Britannica (ed. 8) 18 Barber'd fops, and flaunting beaux and belles Delighted pass along the crouded street.
1856 Raleigh (N. Carolina) Reg. 11 June The conventional type of a perfect gentleman; irreproachably shod, gloved, barbered and cravated, wearing immaculate linen, [etc.].
1899 Short Stories Jan–Mar. 217 At the end of the second day the pile of hay began to wear a neatly barbered look.
1910 Daily Chron. 29 Jan. 6/1 Arnold..dismissed him [sc. Emerson]..as a barbered and eupeptic Carlyle.
1947 W. de la Mare Coll. Stories for Children 166 Trim barbered lawns.
2012 Evening Standard (Nexis) 25 Oct. 31 The pairing of neat, barbered hair and immaculately shaped beards or moustaches..was all over the menswear catwalks this spring.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2022).
<
n.c1330
v.1605