Etymology 1

From , from 'tree bark', from Proto-Germanic *barkuz, probably related to *berkjon 'birch' (cf. English birch), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰergo (cf. Latin frāxinus 'ash', Lith béržas 'birch'), from *bʰereg- 'to gleam; white' (cf. English bright); akin to Danish/Norwegian/Swedish , Icelandic , and Low German .

Noun

1. The exterior covering of the trunk and branches of a tree; the rind.
2. Peruvian Bark or Jesuit's bark, the bark of the cinchona from which quinine is produced.

Usage notes

Usually uncountable; bark may be countable when referring to the barks of different types of tree.

Related terms

• ringbark
• paperbark

• stringybark

Verb

1. To strip the bark from; to peel.
2. To abrade or rub off any outer covering from.

   to bark one’s heel

3. To girdle.
4. To cover or inclose with bark, or as with bark.

   bark the roof of a hut

Etymology 2

From the , from the , from the , of echoic/imitative origin < . Akin to the Icelandic

Noun

1. The short, loud, explosive sound uttered by a dog.
2. A similar sound made by some other animals.
3. An abrupt loud vocal utterance.
   • circa 1921 CE: Fox’s clumsy figure, negligently dressed in blue and buff, seemed unprepossessing; only his shaggy eyebrows added to the expression of his face; his voice would rise to a bark in excitement. — The Cambridge History of English and American Literature, Vol XI.

Verb

1. To make a short, loud, explosive noise with the vocal organs (said of animals, especially dogs).
2. To make a clamor; to make importunate outcries.

   They bark, and say the Scripture maketh heretics. — Tyndale.

   Where there is the barking of the belly, there no other commands will be heard, much less obeyed. — Fuller.

3. To speak sharply.

   The sergeant barked an order.

Etymology 3

From 'boat', from , from , from , from (báris) 'Egyptian boat', from 'small boat', from Ancient Egyptian bēre.

Noun

1. A small sailing vessel, e.g. a pinnace or a fishing smack; a rowing boat or barge.
2. a sailing vessel or boat of any kind.
3. A three-masted vessel, having her foremast and mainmast square-rigged, and her mizzenmast schooner-rigged.

Quotations

• circa 1880 CE: Whether my bark went down at sea, Whether she met with gales, ... — Emily Dickinson (1830–86), Poems