An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/Baron

by Friedrich Kluge

Baron, masculine, ‘Baron,’ not from the equivalent Middle High German barûn, but from the French and MidL Rhenish form baron, which is found in the 16th century; Middle Latin baro, baronis, is by some based on Keltic bar, ‘man,’ and by others on Anglo-Saxon beorn or on Old High German baro, ‘man, vassal.’