barbarian
noun
- character class in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game
adjective
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L334735 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /bɑː(ɹ)ˈbɛə.ɹi.ən/ / /bɑɹˈbɛəɹ.i.ən/
adj
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”).
- Relating to people, countries, or customs perceived as uncivilized or inferior.
noun
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”).
- A non-Greek or a non-Roman citizen.
- An uncivilized or uncultured person, originally compared to the hellenistic Greco-Roman civilisation; usually associated with senseless violence and self-harm or other such shows of brute force and lack of mental faculty.
- A person destitute of culture; a Philistine.
“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?”
- Someone from a developing country or backward culture.
- A brutish warrior depicted in sword and sorcery and other fantasy works; typically clad in primitive furs or leather and usually favoring physical strength over intelligence while often possessing a bellicose temperament and disdain for laws.
- A cruel, savage, inhumane, brutal, violently aggressive person, particularly one who is unintelligent or dim-witted; one without pity or empathy.
“Thou fell barbarian.”
- A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions.