barbarian
pronunciation
How to pronounce barbarian in British English:
UK [bɑːˈbeəriən]
How to pronounce barbarian in American English:
US [bɑːrˈberiən]
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- Noun:
- a member of an uncivilized people
- a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
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- Adjective:
- without civilizing influences
Word Origin
- barbarian (adj.)
- mid-14c., from Medieval Latin barbarinus (source of Old French barbarin "Berber, pagan, Saracen, barbarian"), from Latin barbaria "foreign country," from Greek barbaros "foreign, strange, ignorant," from PIE root *barbar- echoic of unintelligible speech of foreigners (compare Sanskrit barbara- "stammering," also "non-Aryan," Latin balbus "stammering," Czech blblati "to stammer"). Greek barbaroi (n.) meant "all that are not Greek," but especially the Medes and Persians. Originally not entirely pejorative, its sense darkened after the Persian wars. The Romans (technically themselves barbaroi) took up the word and applied it to tribes or nations which had no Greek or Roman accomplishments. The noun is from late 14c., "person speaking a language different from one's own," also (c. 1400) "native of the Barbary coast;" meaning "rude, wild person" is from 1610s.
Synonym
Example
- 1. She points out that unease about the barbarian or foreign devil is embedded in chinese writing .
- 2. The result was a riot of chinese opera , japanese anime , french maids , conan the barbarian and star wars .
- 3. The emerging powers are better placed for success than were the barbarian tribes that felled the roman empire .
- 4. I would not risk my own money on a hut in the vicinity of a barbarian horde but a tropical beach house in second life should do nicely .
- 5. It is fun to play a goblin whose hut is at risk of being burned down arbitrarily by a barbarian horde .