barbarian
Plural: barbarians
Noun
- a member of an uncivilized people
- a crude uncouth ill-bred person lacking culture or refinement
- 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.
- 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.
- A foreigner, especially with barbaric qualities as in the above definitions.
Adjective Satellite
- without civilizing influences; ; ; ; -Margaret Meade
- "barbarian invaders"
Adj
- Relating to people, countries, or customs perceived as uncivilized or inferior.
Origin / 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”).
Synonyms
barbaric, boor, churl, Goth, peasant, savage, tike, tyke, uncivilised, uncivilized, wild, alien, barbarous, foreigner, outlander, peregrine
Scrabble Score: 13
barbarian: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Wordbarbarian: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
barbarian: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary