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barbarian

barbarian

48 8.1
A person from a tribe outside a major civilization often thought to be uncivilized
  • noun
  • /bɑrˈbɛriən/
  • Slur
translation icon : [OFENSIVO] bárbaro
  • Many historians consider the Huns a notorious group of barbarians who had a significant impact on Europe.
  • invasion by barbarians
  • barbarian hordes
  • barbarians and savages

They were, they truly were Barbarians inside the gate.

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Examples

  • Adrianople made possible the precedent for future barbarian national settlement inside the Roman Empire.

  • The people whom we call Barbarians know us only through our own crimes.

  • But how do we know the offering of a barbarian will please the gods?

  • What are we, barbarians here?

  • How dare you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library?

  • Irish monks set sail from our island to bring what was a semi barbarian Europe out of the Dark Ages.

  • Barbarians from every corner are almost at Rome's door.

  • Drizzt at least understood the barbarian's confusion about the young woman.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Now it was her turn to give Wulfgar a superior stare, and the barbarian, humbled, promptly looked away.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • In ancient times, the Romans often viewed the barbarians from the north as uncivilized and unrefined.

Synonyms

foreigner
vsbarbarian
19 3.7

A person not accepted by a group

is seen as uncivilized rather than merely not belonging to a group
primitive
vsbarbarian
  • Archaic
7 8.2

A person who lived in a very early, simple society

is judged uncivilized by other civilizations not only defined by early stage

Compounds

barbarian hero
  • Literature
7.9

A strong, rough warrior from an ancient society who is the main character in stories

How Civilized

civilized
80 4.4
barbarian
  • Slur
48 8.1
uncultured
  • Offensive
3 5.6
savage
  • Offensive
94 7.9

Surface Forms

barbarian singular
barbarians plural

Morphology

barbarian = barbar + ian

Formed from a non‑productive borrowed root 'barbar' plus the suffix '-ian'; the base is not a recognizable English word, so learners cannot reliably derive the meaning from components.

Etymology

Barbarian was used by ancient Greeks and Romans from the Greek barbaros, based on the copied sound bar-bar for foreign speech, so it first meant an outsider. That's why barbarian became a name for people or tribes who were seen as outside the great civilizations.