bar, 来自PIE *bhars, 刺，硬毛，同bristle, 刚毛，硬毛。-ley, 同like, 像。因麦穗如硬毛而命名。
英文词源
barley
barley: [OE] The Old English word for ‘barley’ was bære or bere. It came from an Indo- European base *bhar- which also gave Latin farīna ‘flour’ (from which English gets farinaceous [17]) and Old Norse farr ‘barley’. Barley (Old English bærlic) was in fact originally an adjective formed from this (like princely based on prince), and it was not until the early twelfth century that it came to be used as a noun. A barn [OE] was originally a building for storing barley. The Old English word ber(e)n was a compound formed from bere and ern or ærn ‘house’ (which may be related to English rest). => barn, farinaceous, farrago
barley (n.)
Old English bærlic, originally an adjective, "of barley," from bere "barley" (from Proto-Germanic *bariz, *baraz) + -lic "body, like." First element is related to Old Norse barr "barley," and cognate with Latin far (genitive farris) "coarse grain, meal;" probably from PIE *bhars- "bristle, point, projection" (see bristle (n.)).
中文解释
barley 大麦 “大麦在跳芭蕾舞”
实用例句
1. The aphid is now laying waste to the wheat and barley fields.
蚜虫正在毁掉一片片的小麦和大麦田地。
来自柯林斯例句
2. By cereals we mean wheat, oats, rye, barley, and all that.
谈到谷物,我们指的是小麦 、 燕麦 、 黑麦 、 大麦之类的东西.
来自《简明英汉词典》
3. They looked out across the fields of waving barley.
他们朝田里望去,只见大麦随风摇摆.
来自《简明英汉词典》
4. The best - known grains are wheat, barley, oats, rye and maize.
最为人们所熟知的粮食是小麦 、 大麦 、 燕麦 、 黑麦和玉米.
来自《简明英汉词典》
5. The substance that's causing the problem comes from the barley.