barren flower

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Barren \Bar"ren\ (b[a^]r"ren), a. [OE. barein, OF. brehaing, fem. brehaigne, baraigne, F. br['e]haigne; of uncertain origin; cf. Arm. br['e]kha[~n], markha[~n], sterile; LL. brana a sterile mare, principally in Aquitanian and Spanish documents; Bisc. barau, baru, fasting.]

1.Incapable of producing offspring; producing no young; sterile; -- said of women and female animals. [1913 Webster]

She was barren of children.— Bp. Hall.[1913 Webster]

2.Not producing vegetation, or useful vegetation; sterile. "Barren mountain tracts." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]

3.Unproductive; fruitless; unprofitable; empty. [1913 Webster]

Brilliant but barren reveries.— Prescott.[1913 Webster]

Some schemes will appear barren of hints and matter.— Swift.[1913 Webster]

4.Mentally dull; stupid. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Barren flower, a flower which has only stamens without a pistil, or which has neither stamens nor pistils.

Barren Grounds (Geog.), a vast tract in British America northward of the forest regions.

Barren Ground bear (Zool.), a peculiar bear, inhabiting the Barren Grounds, now believed to be a variety of the brown bear of Europe.

Barren Ground caribou (Zool.), a small reindeer (Rangifer Gr[oe]nlandicus) peculiar to the Barren Grounds and Greenland. [1913 Webster]