barbarian

English

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barbarian

Wikipedia

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): /bɑɹ.ˈbɛəɹ.i.ən/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛəɹiən

Adjective

barbarian (not comparable)

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

Synonyms

• barbaric
• barbarous

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; often associated with fighting or other such shows of strength.
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 warrior, clad in fur or leather, associated with sword and sorcery stories.
6. A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal person; one without pity or empathy.
   • 1712, Ambrose Philips, The Distrest Mother:

     Thou fell barbarian.

7. (derogatory) A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions.

Synonyms

• (foreigner): alien, outlander, peregrine; see also Thesaurus:foreigner

Translations

Related terms

• barbarism
• barbarity
• barbarize
• barbary
• rhubarb
• outlander