barbarian
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
See also: barbarían
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
Adjective
barbarian (not comparable)
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations
uncivilized
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Noun
barbarian (plural barbarians)
- (historical) A non-Greek or a non-Roman citizen.
- 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.
- (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?
- (derogatory) Someone from a developing country or backward culture.
- 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.
- (derogatory) A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal, violently aggressive person, particularly one who is unintelligent or dim-witted; one without pity or empathy.
- 1712, Ambrose Philips, The Distrest Mother:
- Thou fell barbarian.
- (derogatory) A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions.
Synonyms
- (foreigner): alien, outlander, peregrine; see also Thesaurus:foreigner
Translations
a non-Greek or a non-Roman
uncivilized person
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derogatory term for someone from a developing country
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warrior associated with Sword and Sorcery stories
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a cruel, savage, brutal person; one without pity or humanity
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Related terms
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