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barbarian

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also: barbarían

English

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Etymology

From Middle English barbarian, borrowed from Medieval Latin barbarinus (“Berber, pagan, foreigner”), from Latin barbaria (“foreign country”), from barbarus (“foreigner, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, non-Greek, strange”), possibly onomatopoeic (mimicking foreign languages, akin to English blah blah). Cognate to Sanskrit बर्बर (barbara, “barbarian, non-Aryan, stammering, blockhead”).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /bɑː(ɹ)ˈbɛə.ɹi.ən/
  • (US) IPA(key): /bɑɹˈbɛəɹ.i.ən/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɛəɹiən

Adjective

barbarian (not comparable)

  1. Relating to people, countries, or customs perceived as uncivilized or inferior.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

barbarian (plural barbarians)

  1. (historical) A non-Greek or a non-Roman citizen.
  2. An uncivilized or uncultured person, originally compared to the hellenistic Greco-Roman civilisation; usually associated with senseless violence and self-harm or other such shows of brute force and lack of mental faculty.
  3. (derogatory) A person destitute of culture; a Philistine.
    • 1725, Anthony Blackwall, The Sacred Classics Defended And Illustrated:
      Shall a noble writer, and an inspired noble writer, be called a solecist, and barbarian, for giving a new turn to a word so agreeable to the analogy and genius of the Greek tongue?
  4. (derogatory) Someone from a developing country or backward culture.
  5. A brutish warrior depicted in sword and sorcery and other fantasy works; typically clad in primitive furs or leather and usually favoring physical strength over intelligence while often possessing a bellicose temperament and disdain for laws.
  6. (derogatory) A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal, violently aggressive person, particularly one who is unintelligent or dim-witted; one without pity or empathy.
  7. (derogatory) A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions.

Synonyms

Translations

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