noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
UK:/ˈbɑːbəl/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/ˈbɑːɹbəl/
rhymes with -ɑː(ɹ)bəl
CMU ARPABET:B AA1 R B EH2 L
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related taxa in the cyprinid family.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: barb
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: part, structure
3
noun
Meaning 3
A whisker-like sensory organ, located around the mouth of certain fish, including carp, catfish, goatfish, sturgeon, and some types of shark.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Topics: biology, natural-sciences
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: barb
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: cirrus, appendage, part, structure
4
noun
Meaning 4
slender tactile process on the jaws of a fish
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: feeler
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: tentacle
History
Etymology
PIE word *bhardhéh2 From Middle English barbel, from Old French barbel, from Vulgar Latin *barbellus, from Late Latin barbulus, diminutive of Latin barbus (“barbel”); barbus itself is from barba (“beard”). By surface analysis, Latin barb(us) (“beard, barbel”) + -el (diminutive suffix), and also, by surface analysis, barb (“sharp, extruding structure”) + -el (diminutive suffix).
Across languages
Translations
41 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
բեղլու
(beġlu)
— fish
Belarusian:
вусач
(vusač)
— fish
Belarusian:
мірон
(mirón)
— fish
Catalan:
barb
— fish
Chinese Mandarin:
魮 /𱇒
(bí)
— fish
Czech:
parma
— fish
Dutch:
barbeel
— fish
Finnish:
barbi
— fish
French:
barbeau
— fish
Galician:
barbo
— fish
German:
Barbe
— fish
Hungarian:
márna
— fish
Ido:
barbelo
— fish
Italian:
barbio
— fish
Kazakh:
қаяз
(qaäz)
— fish
Kazakh:
сүген
(sügen)
— fish
Latin:
barbus
— fish
Macedonian:
мренка
(mrenka)
— fish
Macedonian:
мрена
(mrena)
— fish
Persian:
زردهپره
(zardeparre)
— fish
Polish:
brzana
— fish
Portuguese:
barbo
— fish
Romanian:
mreană
— fish
Russian:
уса́ч
(usáč)
— fish
Serbo-Croatian:
мре̏на
— fish
Serbo-Croatian:
mrȅna
— fish
Slovak:
mrena
— fish
Spanish:
barbo
— fish
Swedish:
barb
— fish
Ukrainian:
марена
(marena)
— fish
Ukrainian:
вусач
(vusač)
— fish
Walloon:
bårbea
— fish
Galician:
barbo
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Hungarian:
bajusz
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Indonesian:
sungut
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Irish:
sprochaille
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Italian:
barbiglio
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Persian:
سبیلک
(sebilak)
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Polish:
wąsik
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Portuguese:
barbilhão
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish
Portuguese:
barbilho
— whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish