An alternate spelling of barberry, a spiny shrub with small berries, often used in hedges and ornamental plantings.
Variant spelling of 'barberry,' influenced by folk etymology connecting it to 'berry.' The word shows how spelling was not standardized before the 1700s.
'Berberry' spelling persisted in some regions even though 'barberry' became standard—this shows how pronunciation changed faster than spelling, leaving fossils of old pronunciations in alternate spellings.
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