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Added 9 October 2026

bark

/bɑːk/ verb

In Latin: lātrō Wiktionary

verb Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about bark at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
The neighbour's dog is always barking.
To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.
To speak sharply.
The sergeant barked an order.

noun

The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog, a fox, and some other animals.
An abrupt loud vocal utterance.

interjection

The sound of a dog barking.

noun

The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree or of various other woody plants.
Peruvian bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced.
Hard candy made in flat sheets, for instance out of chocolate, peanut butter, toffee or peppermint.

Origin

From Middle English barken, berken, borken, from Old English beorcan (“to bark”), from the Proto-West Germanic *berkan (“to bark”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerg- (“to make a noise, growl, bark”), from *bʰer- (“to drone, hum, buzz”). Cognate with Icelandic berkja (“to bark, bluster”), Icelandic barki (“throat, windpipe”), dialectal Lithuanian burgė́ti (“to growl, grumble, grouch, quarrel”), Serbo-Croatian brbljati (“to murmur”). For the noun, compare Old English beorc, bearce (“barking”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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