† barse Obs. exc. dial.
[Common Teut.: OE. bærs, bears (:—bars) = MDu. bars, Du. baars, MHG. bars, Ger. barsch, f. root *bars-, bors-, whence OHG. burst, OE. byrst, Sc. birse ‘bristle.’]
Name of a species of fish: the original form of the word subsequently corrupted to base, and basse; still retained in some dialects.
| c 1000 ælfric Gloss in Wülcker /180 Lupus, uel scardo, bærs. c 1050 Ags. Voc. ibid. /293 Lypus, bærs. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Barse, in ichthyology, an English name for the common pearch. 1860 H. Riley Liber Custum. Gloss., Barcius, a perch, which in Cumberland and Westmoreland is still known as barse. |