Definitions of Barter
- (verb) The exchange of a good or service for another good or service without using money.
- (noun) The act or process of bartering.
Examples of Barter
- Giving someone an apple for a banana.
- Helping relatives move into an apartment if they clean your deck.
Barter Pronunciation
Syllabification: bar·ter
Audio Pronunciation
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
- Economic Sociology Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “barter” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
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 October 3, 2023 (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 October 3, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/barter/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“barter.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 3 Oct. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/barter/>.