barbarian English · revision 1005

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bɑː(ɹ)ˈbɛə.ɹi.ən/ ''(UK)''; /bɑɹˈbɛəɹ.i.ən/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Before 1338 as ''barbaryn'',^(Barnhart 1995) [[bor|fro|barbarin]] or directly [[der|la-med|barbarinus]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) probably from [[la|barbaria|t=foreign country]],^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) from ''barbarus'' “foreign, strange”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) [[der|grc|βάρβαρος|tr=bárbaros|t=foreign; ignorant]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The Greek word was originally echoic of the unintelligible speech of foreigners (“bar-bar”);^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) compare Sanskrit ''barbara-'' “stammering” and [[la|balbus|t=stammering]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The AHD takes the English word through [[fr|barbarien]].^(AHD)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An infidel, especially a Muslim (before 1338), and later a foreigner (1384).^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Greek ''barbaroi'' meant all who were not Greek, especially the Medes and Persians, and at first it was not wholly pejorative; it grew more so after the Persian wars.^(Etymonline) The Romans applied it to peoples without Greek or Roman accomplishments,^(Etymonline) and English used it in reference to classical history for a non-Greek or non-Roman, and later for one outside Christian civilization.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) The sense “rude, wild, uncivilized person” is recorded from 1613.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) Renaissance Italians used it of anyone not Italian (1604),^(OED 1989)^(RHWU) and the Chinese were reported to apply it contemptuously to foreigners (1858).^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 1338 – ''barbaryn'', an infidel (Barnhart).^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1384 – a foreigner.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * mid-14th century – adjective, foreign.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1549 – a foreigner whose language and customs differ from one's own.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1613 – a rude, wild, uncivilized person.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A member of a people regarded by another nation or group as having a primitive [[civilization]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(history)'' A non-Greek; or a person living outside the [[Roman Empire]] or outside [[Christendom]].^(RHWU)^(OED 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A fierce, brutal or cruel person.^(AHD)^(Wiktionary)

+ # An uncultured, insensitive person; a [[boor]] or [[philistine]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Of or relating to a land, culture or people regarded as alien and inferior.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Lacking refinement, learning or culture; [[uncivilized]].^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[barbarianism]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[barbarism]]

+ * [[barbarity]]

+ * [[barbarize]]

+ * [[barbary]]

+ * [[rhubarb]]

+ * [[outlander]]

+ * [[barbaric]]

+ * [[barbarous]]

+ * [[babble]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Random House distinguishes three adjectives: ''barbarian'' is the general word for anything uncivilized, ''[[barbaric]]'' suggests crudeness of taste but can also convey rude splendour, and ''[[barbarous]]'' stresses inhumanity and cruelty.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}