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barmy

adj
/ˈbɑːmi/UK/ˈbɑɹmi/US

Etymology

From barm (“foam rising upon beer or other malt liquors when fermenting, and used as leaven”) + -y (suffix meaning ‘having the quality of’ forming adjectives). Barm is derived from Middle English berm, berme (“foam rising upon ale or beer fermenting; leaven, yeast; foam or head of beer produced by pouring”) [and other forms], from Old English beorma (“foam or head of beer; leaven, yeast”), from Proto-West Germanic *bermō (“barm; yeast”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrewh₁- (“to boil; to brew”) or *gʷʰer- (“warm; hot”).

  1. inherited from *bʰrewh₁-✻ — “to boil; to brew”
  2. inherited from *bermō✻ — “barm; yeast”
  3. inherited from beorma — “foam or head of beer; leaven, yeast”
  4. inherited from berm

Definitions

  1. Containing, covered with, or pertaining to barm (“foam rising upon beer or other malt…

    Containing, covered with, or pertaining to barm (“foam rising upon beer or other malt liquors when fermenting, used as leaven in brewing and making bread”).

    • [T]each thy Incubus to Poëtize, / And throvve abroad thy ſpurious Snotteries, / Vpon that puft-vp Lumpe of Barmy froth, […]
    • Their jovial Nights, in frollicks and in play / They paſs, to drive the tedious Hours avvay. / And their cold Stomachs vvith crovvn'd Goblets cheer, / Of vvindy Cider, and of barmy Beer.

  2. Bubbling with activity or excitement

    Bubbling with activity or excitement; active, excited.

    • Just now I've taen the fit o' rhyme, / My barmie noddle's working prime, […]

  3. Crazy, mad

    Crazy, mad; also, eccentric, odd, strange.

    • [T]he exercise yard of the "barmy fellows," as he called the madmen, (meaning, I suppose, that their brains were in an unnatural state of working,) was but a stone's throw from himself and his rational companions, […]
    • "Bli'me if I know wot yer all talkin' abaht. You're all barmy on the crumpet," said Liza indignantly, and, turning her back on them, made for home.
  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. Very foolish.

    2. plural of barma (“a regal Russian mantle or neckpiece made of gold, encrusted with…

      plural of barma (“a regal Russian mantle or neckpiece made of gold, encrusted with diamonds and other gems”)

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for barmy. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA