barbarian
See also: barbarían
English edit
Etymology edit
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 edit
Adjective edit
barbarian (not comparable)
Synonyms edit
Translations edit
uncivilized
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Noun edit
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; often associated with fighting or other such shows of strength.
- (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 warrior, clad in fur or leather, associated with sword and sorcery stories.
- A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal person; 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 edit
- (foreigner): alien, outlander, peregrine; see also Thesaurus:foreigner
Translations edit
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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