Bar, in Music, is a line drawn across the stave, to divide the music into small portions of equal duration; and to indicate the accent, each of these small portions, called measures, are also commonly but improperly termed bars. The double bar indicates the conclusion of a composition or of a section thereof.
Bar
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 1: A to Beaufort, p. 726
Source scan(s): p. 0753