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barter

Definitions of Barter

  1. (verb) The exchange of a good or service for another good or service without using money.
  2. (noun) The act or process of bartering.

Examples of Barter

Barter Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: bar·ter

Audio Pronunciation

– American English
– British English

Phonetic Spelling

  • American English – /bAHR-tuhr/
  • British English – /bAHt-uh/

International Phonetic Alphabet

  • American English – /ˈbɑrdər/
  • British English – /ˈbɑːtə/

Usage Notes

  • Plural: barters
  • An economy based on bartering is called a barter economy.
  • Also called:
    • swap
    • swop
    • trade
  • A (noun) barterer is a person who makes a trade through (verb) bartering.

Additional Information

Related Terms


Works Consulted

Collins English Dictionary: Complete and Unabridged. 6th ed. 2003. Glasgow, Scotland: Collins.

Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Merriam-Webster. (N.d.) Merriam-Webster Dictionary. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/).

Oxford University Press. (N.d.) Oxford Dictionaries. (https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/).

Princeton University. 2010. WordNet. (https://wordnet.princeton.edu/).

Random House Webster’s College Dictionary. 1997. New York: Random House.

Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).

Cite the Definition of Barter

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “barter.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 19, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/barter/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

barter. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/barter/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “barter.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 19, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/barter/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“barter.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/barter/>.