An adjective appearing as G. barn or baron “tilled, inhabited” in the Gnomish Lexicon of the 1910s (GL/21), clearly derived from the early root ᴱ√MBARA “dwell, live” (QL/63). As such, likely this word originally meant “inhabited” and the sense was later extended to “inhabited and prepared for cultivation” = “tilled”. As such it likely refers primarily to inhabited land rather than inhabited dwellings, and more specifically to tilled land inhabited by an agricultural people rather than simple hunter-gatherers.

Neo-Sindarin: Since √MBAR continues to appear in Tolkien’s later writings, I would retain ᴺS. baron “tilled, inhabited” for purposes of Neo-Sindarin.