What does bar mean?
Bar is one of English's most versatile words, functioning as both noun and verb across several unrelated-seeming domains. Most familiarly, a bar is a long, rigid length of material — a steel bar, a chocolate bar, a bar of soap. Equally common is the social sense: a bar is the counter where drinks are served and, by extension, the licensed establishment itself, a word central to hospitality culture worldwide. The verb means to fasten shut or exclude — you can bar a door or bar someone from entry — giving rise to figurative uses like barring all obstacles. Remarkably, bar also names the legal profession itself: solicitors and barristers are 'members of the Bar', originally because they stood beyond the wooden barrier separating practitioners from students in medieval courts. From gymnastics apparatus to musical measures to pressure units, bar's reach makes it a genuinely useful word to master.
A long rigid piece of solid material; a counter or room where alcoholic drinks are served; a physical or figurative obstruction; the legal profession.
"He leaned against the brass rail at the hotel bar."
The plural 'bars' follows standard formation.
To fasten (a door or gate) with a bar; to prevent someone from entering or doing something.
"The guards barred the gates at sunset."
Often used figuratively, as in 'barred from competing'.
Standard plural; applies to the material object and, by extension, establishments.
"There are three coffee bars on this street alone."
The legal phrase 'called to the bar' dates back centuries — the wooden railing that literally separated law students from practising lawyers gave the profession its name.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of bar
Bar entered Middle English from Old French 'barre', which derives from Latin 'barra' (or a related Romance form) meaning a rod or barrier. The word spread through many European languages, producing cognates such as French 'barre' and Spanish 'barra'. Its legal sense grew from the literal physical barrier in courts, while the drinking-establishment sense developed later as counters in taverns came to be called bars.
Related word forms
How bar is actually used
Bar is highly polysemous: the noun covers everything from hardware to hospitality to law, so context matters. The verb form 'to bar' usually implies deliberate exclusion. In British usage, 'pub' and 'bar' overlap but are not identical — a pub is typically more traditional, while a bar suggests a modern drinking venue.
Easily confused with bar
A bard is a poet or storyteller, whereas a bar is a rod, counter, or drinking establishment.
A bat is a club used in sports or a flying mammal, while a bar is a long straight piece of material or a place serving drinks.