# barren vs batten

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### barren
*adjective · IPA /ˈbæɹən/ · frequency rank #17,081*
Not bearing children, childless; hence also unable to bear children, sterile.

### batten
*verb · IPA /ˈbæt(ə)n/ · frequency rank #39,697*
To cause (an animal, etc.) to become fat or thrive through plenteous feeding; to fatten.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/barren-vs-batten