Bar
Bar is a polysemous word in the English language, most commonly used as a noun to denote a rigid, straight piece of material such as a rod of metal or wood employed for fastening, obstructing passage, or providing structural support; a counter or establishment where alcoholic beverages are served to customers, often separated by a physical barrier; or the legal profession comprising qualified lawyers, originating from the railing that traditionally divides the courtroom area for counsel from the public gallery.[1][2] Other prominent noun senses include a unit of pressure in the metric system defined as exactly 100,000 pascals, equivalent to standard atmospheric pressure at sea level; a small solid block of a substance like soap or chocolate; and in music, a vertical line marking the division between measures.[1] As a verb, it means to secure or obstruct with a bar, or to prohibit entry or participation. The term derives principally from Old French barre (attested around the 12th century), signifying a "beam," "gate," or "barrier," which traces to Vulgar Latin barram or barra of debated prehistoric origin, potentially linked to Celtic or pre-Indo-European substrates rather than classical Latin.[3] This etymological root of obstruction and division underpins many of its semantic extensions across physical, social, and technical domains.[3]Establishments and venues
Beverage service establishments
Beverage service establishments, commonly known as bars, are retail businesses primarily engaged in preparing and serving alcoholic beverages for on-premises consumption, often accompanied by limited food offerings. These venues typically feature a dedicated counter, referred to as a bar, where patrons order and receive drinks, distinguishing them from restaurants where food sales predominate. A defining legal requirement is possession of a liquor license, issued by state or local authorities to regulate alcohol sales and ensure compliance with public safety standards.[4][5][6] The origins of such establishments trace to ancient civilizations, with records of taverns in Babylonian society governed by early laws on alcohol service, and similar venues in ancient Greece and Rome serving travelers along trade routes. In medieval Europe, inns and alehouses evolved into formalized public houses, providing ale and rudimentary lodging, which laid the groundwork for modern bars. The term "bar" derives from the physical railing or counter separating servers from customers, a design element persisting today to control access and service. By the 19th century in the United States, saloons proliferated in urban areas, often tied to immigration waves and industrial labor, though subject to temperance movements and Prohibition from 1920 to 1933, which temporarily halted legal operations nationwide.[7][8][9] Contemporary bars encompass diverse types tailored to specific atmospheres and clientele, including dive bars offering inexpensive drinks in casual settings, cocktail lounges emphasizing crafted mixed beverages with premium spirits, and sports bars integrating large screens for televised events alongside beer service. Pubs, prevalent in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations, function as community hubs with a focus on draft ales and pub grub, while nightclubs prioritize music and dancing with high-volume alcohol sales during extended hours. Brewpubs combine on-site beer production with service, subject to additional brewing permits. These variations influence operational models, with revenue heavily reliant on alcohol margins—often 70-80% of sales—driving menu designs around high-profit items like spirits and craft cocktails.[10][11] Operations are governed by stringent regulations to mitigate risks of overconsumption and disorder, including age verification (typically 21 in the U.S., 18-19 elsewhere), mandatory training for staff on responsible service, and limits on operating hours or noise levels. In the U.S., state liquor authorities enforce compliance, with violations leading to fines or license revocation; for instance, New York requires food service permits even for drink-only bars to align with health codes. Globally, variations exist, such as stricter dry laws in parts of the Middle East prohibiting alcohol entirely, versus liberal policies in Europe allowing outdoor beer gardens. Economic data indicate the sector's scale, with U.S. bars generating billions in annual revenue, though challenged by post-pandemic shifts toward low- or no-alcohol options amid health trends.[12][13][14]Food product bars
Food product bars are compact, typically rectangular edible items produced for convenient consumption as snacks or nutritional supplements, encompassing chocolate bars, granola bars, protein bars, and similar confections or fortified products. These items are manufactured by mixing ingredients such as cocoa derivatives, grains, proteins, sugars, and binders, then molding or extruding them into bar shapes for packaging and portability.[15][16] The origins of modern food product bars trace to the mid-19th century with the invention of the chocolate bar in 1847 by British chocolatier Joseph Fry, who developed a moldable paste from cocoa liquor, sugar, and cocoa butter, enabling mass production of solid chocolate for eating rather than just drinking.[17] Prior to this, chocolate existed primarily as a beverage in Mesoamerican cultures dating back to at least 600 BCE, but solid forms were rare and not bar-shaped until European innovations in processing cocoa.[18] Candy bar production surged after World War I, driven by chocolate rations provided to soldiers, which familiarized troops with portable bars and spurred commercial demand in the 1920s, leading to brands like Hershey's and Mars incorporating nuts, caramel, and nougat for variety.[18] Subsequent developments diversified food bars beyond chocolate. Granola and cereal bars emerged in the late 20th century as healthier alternatives, often baked with oats, nuts, dried fruits, and sweeteners to provide sustained energy.[16] Protein bars, aimed at fitness enthusiasts, originated in the mid-20th century alongside the rise of bodybuilding culture, featuring high-protein isolates from whey, soy, or plants combined with binders like syrups for texture.[19] By 2023, the global protein bar market reached USD 14.18 billion, projected to grow to USD 20.87 billion by 2030 at a 5.7% compound annual growth rate, reflecting demand for convenient, macro-nutrient-focused nutrition amid increasing health awareness.[20] Production processes vary by type but generally involve mixing dry and wet ingredients, forming via extrusion or pressing, baking or cooling to set, and coating if needed, with quality controlled for shelf stability through preservatives or vacuum packaging. Chocolate bars require conching—grinding and aerating cocoa mass for smoothness—while nutrition bars prioritize protein content, often exceeding 20 grams per serving to appeal to athletes. Common varieties include milk chocolate bars (with added dairy for creaminess), dark chocolate (higher cocoa solids for bitterness), energy bars (fortified with carbohydrates), and meal replacement bars (balancing proteins, fats, and fibers). Market trends emphasize clean-label ingredients, avoiding artificial additives, though some products face scrutiny for high sugar levels masking as "healthy."[15][19]Physical structures and objects
Metal and rigid bars
Metal bars, typically fabricated from steel alloys, function as rigid structural elements capable of primarily resisting axial forces in tension or compression, with minimal bending under design loads due to their high stiffness. These bars are engineered for applications requiring durability and load-bearing capacity, such as in building frameworks, bridges, and machinery components, where their cross-sectional geometry—often round, square, or rectangular—dictates moment of inertia and resistance to deformation. Steel's composition, mainly iron with 0.05% to 2% carbon and alloying elements like manganese, imparts properties including yield strengths from 40 ksi (Grade 40) to 75 ksi (Grade 75) and ultimate tensile strengths exceeding 100 ksi in higher grades.[21][22] In construction, deformed reinforcing bars (rebar), featuring surface ribs for improved bonding with concrete, are standardized under ASTM A615 for carbon-steel variants in cut lengths or coils, ensuring tensile reinforcement in concrete elements that otherwise fail under tension due to concrete's inherent brittleness. Plain bars, smoother and used where bonding is less critical, complement deformed types in lighter applications like spirals or ties. High-strength low-alloy bars, per ASTM A706, offer weldability and ductility for seismic zones, with elongation at break often above 14% to absorb energy without fracture. These properties stem from controlled rolling and heat treatment processes that refine grain structure, enhancing both strength and toughness.[21][23][24] Rigid metal bars in mechanical systems, idealized in analysis as non-deformable under axial loading, underpin truss and frame designs by transmitting forces along their length, with axial rigidity quantified as the product of cross-sectional area and modulus of elasticity (EA), typically 29,000 ksi for steel. Beyond construction, bar stock in forms like hot-rolled rounds serves manufacturing for shafts and fasteners, valued for machinability and fatigue resistance under cyclic loads. Corrosion mitigation via galvanization or epoxy coating extends service life in harsh environments, as untreated steel corrodes at rates up to 0.1 mm/year in atmospheric exposure. Standards like ASTM A36 govern general structural bars for riveted, bolted, or welded assemblies in non-reinforced applications.[25][26]Geographical bars
In geography, a bar refers to a ridge or elongated deposit of sediment, such as sand, gravel, or shingle, formed by the depositional action of water currents in rivers, estuaries, or coastal zones. These landforms arise where flow velocity decreases, allowing suspended materials to settle and accumulate, often creating shallow, emergent, or submerged features that influence water flow and erosion patterns.[27] Bars are dynamic, subject to erosion during high-energy events like storms and reformation under prevailing currents.[28] Fluvial bars occur within river channels, typically in areas of reduced velocity such as meander bends or braided sections. Point bars develop on the concave inner banks of meanders, where slower water promotes sediment buildup, contributing to channel migration over time; for instance, in the lower Mississippi River, point bars have historically supported levee formation and agricultural expansion since the 19th century. Mid-channel bars, conversely, form in straighter or braided river segments, dividing flow and promoting alternate bar development during flood cycles, as observed in gravel-bed rivers like those in the Pacific Northwest where bar heights can reach 2-5 meters during low flow.[29] These structures stabilize during base flow but erode rapidly, with sediment transport rates influenced by discharge exceeding 100 cubic meters per second in many alluvial systems. Coastal bars, including offshore and nearshore variants, form parallel to shorelines through wave refraction and longshore drift, where breaking waves deposit sediment in the surf zone. Breaker bars, or nearshore sandbars, emerge 100-500 meters offshore in response to wave-induced currents, creating rhythmic patterns spaced 100-300 meters apart along dissipative beaches; studies of U.S. Atlantic coasts document their role in dissipating wave energy, reducing erosion by up to 30% during moderate storms. Bay bars connect headlands across inlets or bays, enclosing lagoons when fully developed, as in bar-built estuaries like those along the U.S. Gulf Coast, where sediment influx from rivers sustains barriers against sea-level rise rates of 3-5 mm per year. Offshore bars may remain submerged, influencing navigation hazards, with depths typically 1-3 meters below mean sea level in temperate zones.[27][30][31] In estuarine settings, bars contribute to bar-built estuary formation, where wave-driven sediment accumulation creates barriers separating freshwater rivers from marine waters, as classified by geological typology; examples include Pamlico Sound in North Carolina, formed post-Pleistocene sea-level rise around 10,000 years ago, enclosing 8,000 square kilometers of shallow lagoon. These features enhance biodiversity by fostering salt marshes but pose flood risks, with historical data showing barrier breaching during hurricanes like Hazel in 1954, which altered bar morphology across 200 kilometers of coastline. Overall, geographical bars exemplify causal sediment dynamics, with longevity tied to supply rates exceeding 10^5 cubic meters annually in active systems.[30][32]Firearms components
In pump-action firearms, particularly shotguns such as the Remington 870 and Mossberg 500, the action bar—or more commonly a pair of action bars—serves as the primary linkage between the manually operated forend and the bolt carrier assembly. These steel rods transmit the rearward and forward motion of the forend to cycle the bolt, ejecting the spent cartridge from the chamber and stripping a fresh round from the under-barrel magazine tube.[33][34] The design ensures reliable operation under varying conditions, with the bars often incorporating machined flats or cams that engage with the receiver to sequence shell extraction, bolt lockout, and carrier release.[33] Failures in action bar alignment, such as bending or improper lubrication, can lead to binding or incomplete cycling, compromising the firearm's functionality.[35] The trigger bar represents another essential bar component, ubiquitous in striker-fired and double-action semi-automatic pistols like Glock and Smith & Wesson models. This pivoting metal lever attaches directly to the trigger and interfaces with the sear, connector, or striker safety to convert the shooter's pull into the precise force needed to disengage the firing mechanism.[36] In these systems, the trigger bar's geometry influences pull weight, reset distance, and overtravel, with aftermarket variants often machined for reduced friction or shorter resets to enhance accuracy and speed.[37] Its compact, inline design minimizes parts count compared to traditional hammer-fired linkages, contributing to the reliability of modern polymer-framed handguns.[36] In break-action shotguns, the term "bar action" describes a lock configuration where the hammer, tumbler, and mainsprings are mounted forward beneath the barrels, distinct from rearward "back-action" setups. Introduced in 19th-century designs, bar actions facilitate shorter lock times and potentially crisper trigger pulls due to reduced leverage distances, though they demand precise manufacturing to avoid inertia-related delays in hammer fall.[38] This arrangement remains in some sidelock and boxlock mechanisms for hunting and sporting arms, prioritizing balance over the simpler assembly of back actions.[39]Units and measures
Bar (pressure unit)
The bar is a metric unit of pressure defined as exactly 100,000 pascals (Pa), equivalent to 100 kilopascals (kPa) or 0.1 megapascals (MPa).[40][41] This definition aligns with the International System of Units (SI) except for its non-power-of-10 prefix, positioning it between the kilopascal and megapascal in the sequence of decimal pressure units.[42] Although not an official SI unit, the bar is accepted for use alongside SI units in fields such as engineering and meteorology due to its convenience for expressing pressures near atmospheric levels.[43] Introduced by British meteorologist Sir Napier Shaw in 1909 for meteorological applications, the bar and its subunit the millibar facilitated standardized weather reporting by approximating average sea-level atmospheric pressure.[44] The unit derives etymologically from the Greek word báros (βάρος), meaning weight, reflecting pressure as force per unit area.[45] International adoption followed in 1929, with the millibar (1/1000 bar, or 100 Pa) becoming prevalent in synoptic weather charts until largely supplanted by the equivalent hectopascal (hPa) in modern SI-compliant systems. The exact definition of 1 bar = 105 Pa was formalized in the 1970 edition of the SI brochure, maintaining its status as a practical reference despite the pascal's primacy in fundamental physics.[40] One bar closely approximates but is slightly less than standard atmospheric pressure at sea level, defined as 1 atm = 101,325 Pa, yielding the relation 1 bar ≈ 0.986923 atm or 1 atm ≈ 1.01325 bar.[46] This proximity made the bar suitable for non-specialized pressure measurements, such as in hydraulics, pneumatics, and vacuum systems, where absolute pressure (bara) or gauge pressure (barg, relative to local atmosphere) distinctions are applied.[47] These conversions derive from the bar's fixed value of 105 Pa and standard definitions, with 1 atm fixed at 101,325 Pa since 1954.[48][46] In practice, the millibar remains common in aviation and legacy weather data, where 1013.25 mb approximates standard sea-level pressure.[45] The unit's persistence stems from its empirical utility in decimal-based calculations, avoiding the pascal's small magnitude for everyday engineering without requiring non-metric alternatives like pounds per square inch.[49]Musical bars
In music theory, a bar—also termed a measure in American English—constitutes a segment of musical time encompassing a predetermined number of beats, as stipulated by the prevailing time signature, and is demarcated by vertical bar lines traversing the staff. These divisions organize rhythmic structure, enabling performers to align beats consistently across an ensemble. Bar lines typically appear as thin vertical strokes, with the content between them adhering strictly to the metric framework to maintain temporal coherence.[50][51] The time signature, denoted by fractional notation at the score's outset (e.g., 4/4 or 3/4), dictates both the quantity of beats per bar (upper numeral) and the note duration equating to one beat (lower numeral, where 4 represents a quarter note). In 4/4 time, prevalent in much Western music since the Classical era, each bar accommodates four quarter-note beats, fostering a strong-weak-strong-weak accent pattern that underpins genres from symphonies to popular songs. Irregular or compound signatures, such as 6/8 (six eighth notes, often grouped in two beats of three), introduce varied groupings, as seen in waltzes (3/4) or marches, influencing phrasing and pulse perception.[50][52] Historically, bar lines emerged in 15th-century tablatures for instruments like the lute, initially serving metrical guidance rather than rigid division, before integrating into staff notation during the 17th century amid Baroque developments in polyphony and opera, where composers like Claudio Monteverdi employed them to clarify complex rhythms. Standardization accelerated in the 18th and 19th centuries, coinciding with the rise of public concerts and printed scores, ensuring precise synchronization in orchestral settings; by 1800, figures such as Beethoven routinely used them to delineate phrasing in sonatas.[53][54] Beyond single thin lines for routine divisions, specialized bar lines include double bars (thicker pairs signaling section ends), thick-thin pairs for coda or finale conclusions, and dashed variants for repeats or first/second endings, all enhancing navigational clarity without altering core beat counts. Incomplete bars, or "pickup" measures, may precede the first full bar to initiate phrases on an upbeat, as in many folk tunes. These elements collectively enforce rhythmic discipline, mitigating errors in performance and composition across traditions, though some 20th-century atonal works by composers like Igor Stravinsky occasionally dispense with them for fluid, non-metric effects.[55][56]Legal terms
The legal bar
The legal bar refers to the collective body of licensed attorneys qualified to practice law within a specific jurisdiction, functioning as an institution that upholds professional standards and access to the courts. This term serves as a metonym for the physical railing, or "bar," historically used in English courtrooms to separate the area reserved for judges, counsel, and court officials from the public gallery, symbolizing the threshold of authorized legal participation.[57][58] The etymology traces to medieval English legal customs, where the bar denoted a literal wooden or metal barrier enclosing the trial space, a practice documented in court designs from at least the 14th century onward; by the 16th century, "crossing the bar" or being "called to the bar" had evolved to signify formal admission to advocate before the court. Contrary to unsubstantiated claims, "bar" is not an acronym such as "British Accredited Registry," but rather derives directly from this architectural and procedural feature inherited in common law systems.[58][59] In contemporary practice, the bar embodies the self-regulatory framework of the legal profession, with bar associations tasked by statute or court rule to license practitioners, enforce disciplinary measures, and promulgate codes of conduct aimed at safeguarding client interests and judicial integrity. For instance, in the United States, state bars—such as the State Bar of California, established by legislation in 1927—administer mandatory membership for active attorneys, handling over 250,000 licensees as of 2023 while investigating thousands of misconduct complaints annually to maintain public trust. Nationally, the American Bar Association, founded in 1878, influences standards through model rules adopted variably by states, emphasizing duties like competence and confidentiality without supplanting state authority.[60][61] Variations exist across jurisdictions: in England and Wales, the bar traditionally distinguishes barristers—who argue cases in higher courts—from solicitors, with the Bar Council regulating the former since 1894; civil law systems, such as France's, use analogous bodies like the ordre des avocats for oversight, though without the same railing-derived nomenclature. These entities collectively ensure that only vetted professionals engage in representation, mitigating risks of unqualified practice, as evidenced by bar-led prohibitions on unauthorized activities upheld in U.S. Supreme Court precedents like Goldfarb v. Virginia State Bar (1975), which affirmed antitrust limits on fee-setting while preserving core regulatory roles.[62]Bar examinations and admission
Admission to the legal bar in the United States is regulated by individual states, the District of Columbia, and territories, each with its own bar admission authority, typically a state supreme court or bar association.[63] Requirements generally include completion of a Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an American Bar Association (ABA)-accredited law school, passage of a bar examination, a scaled score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) testing legal ethics (required in all jurisdictions except Wisconsin and Puerto Rico), and a character and fitness evaluation assessing moral qualifications.[64][65] The MPRE, administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), requires a minimum score of 75 to 86 depending on the jurisdiction. The bar examination assesses competence in legal analysis, reasoning, and practice skills. As of 2024, 36 jurisdictions have adopted the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), a standardized test developed by the NCBE for score portability across adopting states.[66] The UBE comprises three components: the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), a 200-question multiple-choice test on seven core subjects (civil procedure, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, and torts); the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), six 30-minute essays on 12 possible subjects; and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), two 90-minute tasks simulating practical lawyering skills.[67] Scores are valid for 2 to 5 years in most UBE jurisdictions, with minimum passing thresholds ranging from 260 to 280 out of 400.[67] Non-UBE states, such as California and Florida, administer their own exams, often incorporating MBE alongside state-specific essays or performance tests.[68] Foreign-educated lawyers face additional hurdles for U.S. bar admission. A limited number of jurisdictions, including New York, California, and Alabama, permit eligibility with evaluation of foreign credentials, often requiring an LL.M. degree from an ABA-accredited U.S. law school to supplement non-equivalent education.[69] Credential verification, bar exam passage, MPRE, and character review remain mandatory, with success rates lower for international applicants due to differences in legal systems and English proficiency demands.[70] Internationally, bar admission processes diverge significantly from the U.S. model, lacking a uniform examination in many countries. In England and Wales, aspiring solicitors must pass the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), while barristers complete the Bar Training Course and exams under the Bar Standards Board; both emphasize practical skills over comprehensive knowledge testing.[71] Civil law jurisdictions like France and Germany prioritize state examinations following university degrees, with apprenticeships or clerkships integral to qualification, reflecting causal links between educational structures and professional entry barriers rather than a singular high-stakes test.[71] These variations underscore jurisdiction-specific priorities, with U.S. exams prioritizing broad substantive knowledge amid criticisms of rote memorization over real-world aptitude, though empirical data on post-admission performance shows limited correlation between bar scores and career outcomes.[63]Computing and technology
User interface bars
Bars in user interfaces are graphical elements, often rectangular strips oriented horizontally or vertically, that aggregate controls, display contextual information, or visualize dynamic states such as progress or scroll position. These components enhance usability by grouping related functions and providing at-a-glance feedback, originating from early windowing systems like Xerox Alto in the 1970s and evolving through standards in platforms like Windows, macOS, and Android.[72][73] Menu bars consist of a fixed horizontal row, typically at the top of an application window, housing cascading menus accessed via titles like "File" or "Edit." They enable hierarchical organization of commands, reducing screen clutter while supporting keyboard shortcuts for efficiency; for instance, in Qt-based applications, menu bars integrate with frameworks to populate items dynamically.[74] In cross-platform designs, menu bars may merge with global system menus, as seen in macOS, to align with platform conventions.[75] Toolbars, also known as action bars or app bars, present rows or panels of buttons, icons, or tools for frequent operations, often customizable and dockable. In Android development, toolbars serve as top-level navigation hubs displaying titles, actions, and overflow menus, with Material Design specifying elevations and adaptive behaviors for different screen sizes.[76][77] Microsoft Windows guidelines recommend toolbars for context-sensitive commands, such as formatting tools in word processors, positioned below menu bars to prioritize discoverability.[78] Status bars occupy the bottom or edge of windows to convey transient application states, including text labels, icons for connectivity or errors, and miniature progress indicators. They originated in systems like early Microsoft applications to minimize intrusion while updating users on background processes; Windows API documentation notes their capacity for segmented panes showing metrics like word count or cursor position.[78] In mobile contexts, Android status bars aggregate system-level data such as battery life, notifications, and time, with APIs allowing apps to overlay non-intrusive updates.[73] Progress bars depict task completion as a filling determinate bar or indeterminate animation, calibrated to percentages or stages to manage user expectations during operations like file downloads. Material Design 3 distinguishes linear bars for sequential progress—spanning full widths with optional wavy animations—and circular variants for compact spaces, both adhering to accessibility standards like ARIA labels for screen readers.[79] Empirical studies indicate progress bars reduce perceived wait times by 10-20% through visual momentum, though misleading indeterminate styles can erode trust if tasks overrun estimates.[80] Scroll bars appear as vertical or horizontal sliders with thumbs indicating viewport position within larger content, facilitating navigation in overflow areas like documents or lists. They employ drag, click-to-jump, or wheel interactions, with modern implementations in web browsers auto-hiding on desktops for aesthetic minimalism while overlaying on touch devices; CSS standards define properties likeoverflow: scroll to trigger their display.[81] Overlays in iOS and Android prioritize content visibility, though research highlights touch-target sizing to prevent accidental activation.[82]
Other specialized bars include address bars in web browsers for URL input and navigation, which integrate search functionality and autocomplete, and navigation bars in mobile apps for bottom-tab switching between sections, as standardized in Android's bottom navigation component for up to five destinations.[76] These elements collectively adhere to human-computer interaction principles, balancing density with intuitiveness across devices.[82]
Typography and symbols
Diacritical bars
A diacritical bar refers to a horizontal line used as a modifier in orthographies, either as an overline above a base character or a stroke crossing through it, to indicate phonetic distinctions such as vowel length or unique consonantal sounds. These marks derive from ancient scribal practices and have evolved into standard elements in various alphabets, particularly extensions of the Latin script.[83] The overline, commonly known as the macron (¯), originated in Greco-Roman metrics around the classical period to denote long or heavy syllables in poetry, with the term deriving from Greek makrón meaning "long." Its modern usage primarily signals prolonged vowel duration; in Latin pedagogy, it differentiates long vowels like ā (long /aː/) from short a (/a/), affecting pronunciation and meaning in words such as mălus (apple) versus mālus (bad).[84][85] Beyond Latin, macrons mark long vowels in indigenous languages including Māori, where tāu ("your") precedes tau ("year") in lexicographic order due to the length indicator, and Hawaiian orthography for sounds like /oː/ in mōʻī (king). They also feature in romanized Japanese (Hepburn system), as in Tōkyō for /toːkjoː/, and in transliterations of Sanskrit or Arabic to represent extended vowels.[84] The stroke diacritic, a bar drawn through the vertical stem of a letter, functions to derive new graphemes for fricatives or other sounds absent in the base alphabet, often tracing to medieval European scripts for phonetic precision or abbreviation. In Icelandic and Faroese, ð (lowercase eth, a crossed d) represents the voiced dental fricative /ð/, as in þjóð ("people"), evolving from 9th-century Insular manuscripts where the stroke distinguished it from d amid similar shapes. Polish employs ł (crossed l) for the velar approximant /w/, standardized in the 16th century to reflect phonetic shifts from earlier /ɫ/. Maltese uses ħ (crossed h) for the voiceless pharyngeal fricative /ħ/, introduced in the 19th-century orthographic reform drawing on Arabic influences. Northern Sámi incorporates ŧ (crossed t) for the voiceless dental fricative /θ/, highlighting the stroke's role in Finno-Ugric adaptations of Latin letters. These precomposed forms are encoded in Unicode for consistent rendering across scripts.[83][86]Vertical bar
The vertical bar (|) is a glyph formed by a straight vertical line, encoded in the Unicode standard as U+007C VERTICAL LINE.[87][88] Commonly known as the pipe symbol in computing contexts, it functions as a versatile delimiter and operator across mathematics, programming, and textual representation.[89] In mathematics, paired vertical bars denote the absolute value of a real number or the modulus of a complex number, as in |−3| = 3, emphasizing the distance from zero regardless of sign.[90] The symbol also separates conditions in set-builder notation, such as {x ∈ ℝ | x² = 4}, meaning the set of real numbers x where x squared equals 4.[90] Additionally, it indicates conditional probability in statistics, with P(A|B) representing the probability of event A given event B has occurred.[91] In geometry, a single vertical bar signifies parallelism between lines or vectors.[91] A related but distinct character is the broken bar (¦, Unicode U+00A6 BROKEN BAR), which features a gap in the middle and originated in early computing hardware to distinguish it from the letter "l" or "I" in fixed-width fonts, though modern usage favors the solid vertical bar for consistency.[92] In computing and programming, the vertical bar serves as the pipe operator in Unix-like shell environments, redirecting the standard output of one process to the standard input of another, for instance, in the commandcat file.txt | sort to alphabetically sort file contents.[93] Many programming languages, including C, C++, Java, and Python, employ it for the bitwise OR operation, where a | b yields a result with bits set in positions where either a or b has a set bit.[94] It also acts as a logical OR in some regular expression engines and as a separator in data formats like CSV alternatives or URL query strings.
Typographically, the vertical bar functions as an unpaired separator in prose and technical writing, often denoting alternatives or divisions, such as "male | female" in forms or "192.168.1.1 | router IP" in documentation.[94] Its rendering varies by font: in monospace typefaces, it maintains uniform width for alignment in code, while proportional fonts may thin it for aesthetic balance.[89] The glyph entered widespread digital use via ASCII extensions in the 1960s, as the original 1963 ASCII standard omitted it to prioritize control characters, with later revisions accommodating computing demands for logical and piping operations.[95]
Places
Named locations in Asia
Kherlen Bars, alternatively rendered as Bars-Hot or Kherlen Bar Khot, refers to the archaeological remains of a fortified city established by the Khitan Liao Dynasty between the 10th and 12th centuries CE in eastern Mongolia.[96] Situated in the Kherlen River basin within Tsagaan-Ovoo sum, Dornod Province, approximately 90 km west of Choibalsan, the site features remnants of defensive walls, residential structures, and a prominent 3-meter-high brick tower indicative of Liao-period architecture.[97] [98] The city's strategic placement along trade routes facilitated control over nomadic interactions and agricultural pursuits in the steppe environment.[99] Excavations and surveys at Kherlen Bars have revealed a pagoda structure, dated to the Khitan era, which incorporates elements of Buddhist architecture adapted to local materials and techniques, challenging prior assumptions about Liao monumental building in peripheral regions.[100] The locale includes multiple walled enclosures spanning several kilometers, with evidence of occupation layers from the Xiongnu period through Mongol times, underscoring its role in successive waves of Inner Asian urbanization.[101] Today, the site preserves small-scale ruins accessible primarily by private vehicle, serving as a testament to Khitan expansion beyond their core territories into Mongolian grasslands.[102]Named locations in Europe
Bar, Montenegro, is a town and seaport on the Adriatic coast, functioning as the nation's principal port and administrative center of Bar Municipality. The contemporary coastal settlement, known as Novi Bar, contrasts with the inland historic core of Stari Bar, a medieval fortress abandoned after a 1979 earthquake that damaged its structures. Stari Bar spans 4 hectares and represents one of the Balkans' largest archaeological sites, featuring remnants from Roman, Byzantine, and Venetian eras dating back to the 9th century. The town's 2023 census population stands at 15,868, while the municipality covers 504 square kilometers with 45,812 residents.[103][104][105] Geographically, Bar lies between the Adriatic Sea and Lake Skadar, offering a transition from coastal beaches to inland mountains, which supports agriculture like olive production—the area hosts a 2,000-year-old olive tree verified by dendrochronology. The port handles significant cargo and passenger traffic, connecting to Italian and Greek routes, and bolsters Montenegro's economy through tourism focused on its 20-kilometer coastline and proximity to national parks.[105] In Spain, Bar is a rural village within El Pont de Bar municipality in Catalonia's Alt Urgell comarca, nestled in the Pyrenees' Cadí range at 1,188 meters elevation. With roughly 29 inhabitants, it exemplifies highland settlements reliant on pastoral activities amid rugged terrain.[106] The broader municipality, traversed by the Segre River, emphasizes rural tranquility and hiking over urban development.[107]Named locations in North America
Bar Harbor, Maine, United States Bar Harbor is a coastal resort town on Mount Desert Island in Hancock County, Maine, serving as the principal entry point to Acadia National Park, which encompasses much of the island's rugged terrain and coastline. The town originated from indigenous Wabanaki settlements and evolved into a prominent 19th-century summer retreat for wealthy visitors, drawn by its natural harbors and proximity to forested mountains like Cadillac Mountain, rising 1,530 feet above sea level. Today, it supports tourism-driven economy with ferry services, hiking trails, and seasonal events, while maintaining historic sites from its Gilded Age era.[108][109] Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada Boston Bar is an unincorporated community in British Columbia's Fraser Canyon, positioned along the Fraser River directly across from North Bend and approximately midway between the settlements of Yale and Lytton. Established amid the 1858 Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, the site gained prominence due to placer mining on local sandbars, with its name derived from early American prospectors—referred to as "Boston men" by indigenous Nlaka'pamux people—who dominated activity there. The community features rugged canyon landscapes suitable for outdoor pursuits like fishing and rail heritage tours along the Canadian Pacific Railway route.[110][111] Rocky Bar, Idaho, United States Rocky Bar is a historic unincorporated mining district in Elmore County, Idaho, founded in the early 1860s during the Boise Basin gold rush following discoveries in the South Boise mining area. The settlement boomed as a supply hub and county seat for Alturas County (later divided), with operations involving lode and placer gold extraction by companies such as the Rocky Bar Mining Company in the early 20th century. By the 1930s, activity waned, leaving remnants of stamp mills, cabins, and tailings that highlight Idaho's early mineral production history, documented in geological surveys as part of the state's significant gold output.[112][113]Other named locations
In Africa, multiple small settlements and villages bear the name Bar, primarily in rural areas with sparse documentation outside geographical databases. Chad hosts two such locations: one in the Moyen-Chari region in the south and another in the Guera region in the central-east, both characterized as minor populated places amid savanna and semi-arid terrain.[114] Sierra Leone features two Bars, one in the Southern Province near agricultural lowlands and another in the Northern Province within upland districts.[114] Uganda has a Bar in the Lira District of the Northern Region, a area historically affected by conflict and reliant on subsistence farming.[114] Additional instances occur in Senegal (within its central-western administrative region), Sudan (in its northern or central zones), and Nigeria (in Bauchi State in the northeast), where these Bars typically consist of under a few hundred residents engaged in pastoralism or small-scale agriculture, reflecting common naming patterns derived from local languages or topography rather than colonial influences.[114] No major urban centers or historically prominent sites named Bar are recorded in South America or Oceania, though minor or historical references may exist in indigenous toponymy without widespread verification. These African Bars lack significant economic or cultural prominence compared to their counterparts in other continents, often appearing only in national censuses or mapping resources.Language and usage
Verb forms
The English verb bar, denoting actions such as fastening, obstructing, or prohibiting, is regular in conjugation, with principal parts consisting of the base form bar, third-person singular present bars, present participle barring, simple past barred, and past participle barred.[115][116] These forms derive from the Middle English barre, borrowed from Old French barre (a rod or barrier), ultimately from Vulgar Latin barra, reflecting the semantic extension from a physical obstruction to metaphorical exclusion.[1][3] In the present indicative, the verb inflects as bar (first- and second-person singular/plural, first-person plural) and bars (third-person singular), as in "They bar the door" or "He bars entry."[115] The present continuous uses am/are/is barring, while the present perfect employs have/has barred.[116] Past tense forms uniformly barred across persons, as in "She barred the gate," with the past continuous was/were barring and past perfect had barred.[117] Future tenses incorporate auxiliaries, such as will bar or will have barred.[118]| Tense/Aspect | Example Form (I/you/we/they) | Example Form (he/she/it) |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | bar | bars |
| Present Continuous | am/are barring | is barring |
| Past Simple | barred | barred |
| Past Participle | barred | barred |
| Present Participle | barring | barring |