Barrées

Barrées is the plural form of the French word barrée (and the feminine form of the adjective barré). The core sense is barrier, stripe, or something that is barred. Because it is a generic term, its precise meaning depends on the context.

In everyday use, barrée can refer to something that has been blocked or closed off, such as a street or gate that is barrée, or to any obstacle that blocks passage.

In music, barrée describes the barre technique on fretted instruments. A barrée is made when one finger (usually the index) presses down multiple strings across a fret, enabling a chord or note to be played with a single finger. The term is widely used in French-language pedagogy for guitar and similar instruments; the English equivalent barre chord is common in other contexts.

In heraldry, the related term barry/barrée is used to describe a shield bearing horizontal bars. The exact terminology varies by language and tradition, but the concept is a field divided into parallel bars across the shield.

As a surname or toponym, Barrées may appear in French-speaking regions, reflecting origins linked to a barrier or a place where barriers exist.

Barrées thus has multiple, context-dependent meanings, ranging from a physical barrier to a decorative or functional stripe, to a technique in stringed-instrument playing, and to onomastic usage.