βαρβαρικός

Forms

βαρβᾰρῐκός (barbarikós) m (feminine βαρβᾰρῐκή, neuter βαρβᾰρῐκόν); first/second declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “non-Greek, foreigner”) + -ικός (-ikós, “adjective suffix”), the adjective of relation from the word for a non-Greek.^[1][2]

Beekes explains βάρβαρος (bárbaros) as an onomatopoeic reduplicated formation, which first described the speech of foreigners; he compares post-Vedic Sanskrit बर्बर (barbara-, “stammering”), a name for non-Aryan peoples, and rejects a Sumerian or Babylonian origin.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An epigram attributed to Simonides speaks of a “barbarian hand”.^[4][5] In prose it appears in Herodotus, of the barbarian army, and in Thucydides, who uses the neuter for the barbarians as a whole.^[5][6][4]

Semantic evolution

In Classical Greek it describes what belongs to or consists of non-Greeks: peoples, lands, cities, armies and ships, and in Xenophon especially the Persians.^[7][4] Of language it means foreign: Plato discusses “barbarian” words in the Cratylus, and Xenophon has the adverb for speaking Persian as against Greek.^[5][4] Aristotle wrote a treatise on the customs of the barbarians, and called some laws too simple and “barbaric”.^[4][5]

From Plato on it also means barbarous: Plato pictures the soul's eye buried in a kind of barbarian mire, and Polybius and Plutarch use it for cruel, savage acts.^[5][7][4] In late antiquity it described the peoples beyond the frontier of the Roman Empire, and a 6th-century papyrus speaks of an inroad of barbarians.^[5][4]

The word lived on in medieval vernacular Greek, and Modern Greek has the learned βαρβαρικός (varvarikós), used of barbarian tribes and invasions.^[2][8] It was borrowed as Latin barbaricus, whence, through French, English barbaric.^[9]

Timeline

• 6th–5th century BC – An epigram attributed to Simonides speaks of a “barbarian hand”.^[4][5]
• 5th century BC – Herodotus uses it of the barbarian army, and Thucydides uses the neuter for the barbarians.^[5][4]
• 5th–4th century BC – Xenophon uses it especially of the Persians, and Plato of foreign words and of barbarous ignorance.^[4][5][7]
• 4th century BC – Aristotle writes a treatise on the customs of the barbarians.^[4][5]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for cruel and savage behaviour.^[5][7]
• 6th century AD – A papyrus speaks of an inroad of barbarians.^[4]
• 1100–1669 – Vernacular texts use it for what belongs to or befits a barbarian.^[2]
• Late 15th century – English borrows barbaric through French from Latin barbaricus.^[9]
• Modern Greek – The learned βαρβαρικός (varvarikós) is used of barbarian tribes and invasions.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of non-Greeks; barbarian, foreign: of peoples, lands, cities and armies.^[7][5][4]
2. Of language: foreign; the adverb βαρβαρικῶς means “in a foreign tongue”, as Persian.^[5][4]
3. Characteristic of barbarians: of customs, dress, objects or buildings, outlandish.^[7][5]
4. Barbarous, uncivilised, savage, cruel.^[7][4][5]
5. As a noun, neuter τὸ βαρβαρικόν: the barbarians as a body, especially the Persians; a barbarian army; foreign speech.^[4][7][5]

Related words

• βάρβαρος (bárbaros)
• Latin barbaricus
• English barbaric

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
3. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
6. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
8. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com