An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/-bar

by Friedrich Kluge

-bar, adjective suffix which is derived from a complete adjective, properly bäre, Middle High German bœre, Old High German bâri; it means literally ‘bearing,’ compare fruchtbar, lastbar, also dankbar; later on, when it became a suffix, it assumed the present meaning. The older adjective is a verbal form of the strong verb bëran (see under Bahre), Teutonic root ber (Aryan bher), ‘to bear, carry.’ In Anglo-Saxon too -bœ̂re appears, e.g. in wœstmbœ̂re, ‘fertile,’ leóhtbœ̂re, ‘Lucifer.’