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bar·bel²

(bärbəl)

Any of several freshwater cyprinid fishes of the genus Barbus of Eurasia and Africa, especially B. barbus, having four barbels on the upper jaw.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Medieval Latin *barbellus, diminutive of barbus, from Latin barba, beard; see BARBEL¹.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

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Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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