Category:Barley

Bar"ley, n. Etym: [OE. barli, barlich, AS. bærlic; bere barley + lic (which is prob. the same as E. like, adj., or perh. a form of AS. leac leek). AS. bere is akin to Icel, barr barley, Goth. barizeins made of barley, L. far spelt; cf. W. barlys barley, bara bread. Farina, 6th Bear.] (Bot.)

Defn: A valuable grain, of the family of grasses, genus Hordeum, used for food, and for making malt, from which are prepared beer, ale, and whisky. Barley bird (Zoöl.), the siskin.

-- Barley sugar, sugar boiled till it is brittle (formerly with a decoction of barley) and candied.

-- Barley water, a decoction of barley, used in medicine, as a nutritive and demulcent.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Barley - A grain much cultivated in Egypt (Exodus 9:31) and in Palestine (Leviticus 27:16; Deuteronomy 8:8). It was usually the food of horses (1 Kings 4:28). Barley bread was used by the poorer people (Judges 7:13; 2 Kings 4:42). Barley of the first crop was ready for the harvest by the time of the Passover, in the middle of April (Ruth 1:22; 2 Samuel 21:9). Mention is made of barley-meal (Numbers 5:15). Our Lord fed five thousand with "five barley loaves and two small fishes" (John 6:9).