Definitions for Barnum
ˈbɑr nəmbar·num

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Barnum, P. T. Barnum, Phineas Taylor Barnumnoun

   United States showman who popularized the circus (1810-1891)

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. barnum

   Phineas Taylor Barnum (; July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician, remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding the Barnum & Bailey Circus (1871–2017) with James Anthony Bailey. He was also an author, publisher, and philanthropist, though he said of himself: "I am a showman by profession ... and all the gilding shall make nothing else of me." According to his critics, his personal aim was "to put money in his own coffers". He is widely credited with coining the adage "There's a sucker born every minute", although no evidence has been collected of him saying this. Barnum became a small business owner in his early twenties and founded a weekly newspaper before moving to New York City in 1834. He embarked on an entertainment career, first with a variety troupe called "Barnum's Grand Scientific and Musical Theater", and soon after by purchasing Scudder's American Museum which he renamed after himself. He used the museum as a platform to promote hoaxes and human curiosities such as the Fiji mermaid and General Tom Thumb. In 1850, he promoted the American tour of Swedish opera singer Jenny Lind, paying her an unprecedented $1,000 a night for 150 nights. He suffered economic reversals in the 1850s due to bad investments, as well as years of litigation and public humiliation, but he used a lecture tour as a temperance speaker to emerge from debt. His museum added America's first aquarium and expanded the wax-figure department. Barnum served two terms in the Connecticut legislature in 1865 as a Republican for Fairfield, Connecticut. He spoke before the legislature concerning the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude: "A human soul, 'that God has created and Christ died for,' is not to be trifled with. It may tenant the body of a Chinaman, a Turk, an Arab, or a Hottentot—it is still an immortal spirit". He was elected in 1875 as mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut where he worked to improve the water supply, bring gas lighting to streets, and enforce liquor and prostitution laws. He was also instrumental in starting Bridgeport Hospital in 1878 and was its first president. Nevertheless, the circus business, begun when he was 60 years old, was the source of much of his enduring fame. He established "P. T. Barnum's Grand Traveling Museum, Menagerie, Caravan & Hippodrome" in 1870, a traveling circus, menagerie, and museum of "freaks" which adopted many names over the years. Barnum was married to Charity Hallett from 1829 until her death in 1873, and they had four children. In 1874, a few months after his wife's death, he married Nancy Fish, his friend's daughter who was 40 years younger than P. T. Barnum. They were married until 1891 when Barnum died of a stroke at his home. He was buried in Mountain Grove Cemetery, Bridgeport, which he designed himself.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. barnum

   Barnum usually refers to P.T. Barnum, a well-known American showman of the 19th century who founded the Barnum & Bailey Circus. In the context of psychology, the term "Barnum effect" or "Forer effect" is used to refer to the tendency of people to accept as accurate personal descriptions that are actually vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people. It is often used in critiques of personality tests or horoscopes.

WikidataRate this definition:3.0 / 1 vote

1. Barnum

   Barnum is a musical with a book by Mark Bramble, lyrics by Michael Stewart, and music by Cy Coleman. It is based on the life of showman P. T. Barnum, covering the period from 1835 through 1880 in America and major cities of the world where Barnum took his performing companies. The production combines elements of traditional musical theater with the spectacle of the circus. The characters include jugglers, trapeze artists and clowns, as well as such real-life personalities as Jenny Lind and General Tom Thumb. The original Broadway production ran for 854 performances and was followed by a London production, among others.

The Nuttall EncyclopediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Barnum

   an American showman; began with the exhibition of George Washington's reputed nurse in 1834; picked up Tom Thumb in 1844; engaged Jenny Lind for 100 concerts in 1849, and realised a fortune, which he lost; started in 1871 with his huge travelling show, and realised another fortune, dying worth five million dollars (1810-1891).

Surnames Frequency by Census RecordsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. BARNUM

   According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Barnum is ranked #5692 in terms of the most common surnames in America.
   
   The Barnum surname appeared 6,090 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 2 would have the surname Barnum.
   
   81.3% or 4,956 total occurrences were White.
   11.4% or 696 total occurrences were Black.
   2.7% or 168 total occurrences were of Hispanic origin.
   2.2% or 139 total occurrences were of two or more races.
   1.8% or 111 total occurrences were Asian.
   0.3% or 20 total occurrences were American Indian or Alaskan Native.

Matched Categories

1. • Showman

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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How to pronounce Barnum?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Barnum in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Barnum in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Barnum in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of Barnum in a Sentence

1. Hunter Biden:

   This isn't real stuff. It isn't. It truly isn't. That part of it, that Barnum and Bailey -- you know, say anything, do anything you want, I mean, like, you know -- Donald Prince Humperdinck Trump Jr. is not something that I really care about.

2. Ted Cruz:

   We are not a people who are impressed by a lot of blustery rhetoric that's not backed up by truth, we can't be fooled by P.T. Barnum. The time for the clowns and the acrobats and the dancing bears has passed.

3. Unknown:

   Barnum was wrong - it's more like every 30 seconds.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=Barnum
2. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum
3. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
4. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=Barnum
5. ^ The Nuttall Encyclopedia
   https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/12342/pg12342-images.html#Barnum
6. ^ Surnames Frequency by Census Records
   https://www.census.gov/topics/population/genealogy/data/2010_surnames.html
7. ^ Usage in printed sources
   https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Barnum