> < Old French *barain, brahain, brehaing, in feminine baraine,
baraigne, barhaine, barahaine, braaigne, brahaigne, brehaigne, of
uncertain origin and original form: assuming this to be barain,
Diez suggests derivation < bar ‘man, male’ (Latin type *bār-āneus),
as if ‘male-like, not producing offspring, sterile,’ which suits
the sense well; but there seems to be good reason for taking brahain
as the original type, whence bréhain, and barhain, barain; the
latter was the Anglo-Norman form. (The Breton bréchagn is certainly