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Glite Dictionary
🗡️ Extreme cruelty ✖️ Wrong usage
barbarism

barbarism

1 8.0
A word or way of speaking that is not correct in a language
  • noun
  • /ˈbɑːrbəˌrɪzəm/
  • Formal
translation icon : barbarismo
  • In "El Arbol," the enemy is similarly described in terms of grotesque barbarism, but the heroic subject is Spain.

Examples

  • Many linguists argue that the use of certain slang terms can lead to linguistic barbarism in formal writing.

  • The 1877 Athenaeum summed up the perspectives of many in this late Victorian rhyme culture: rime riche in English verse was a "barbarism."

    Academic text (2017)

  • They're they reduce to this barbarism of class consciousness, right?

  • And even if the Catholic Church were a construct of man (which it isn't), so is barbarism.

    Blog text (31)

  • He was in favor of neologisms and all kinds of linguistic "barbarisms" because they help to break up the hardened patterns of thoughtlessness.

    Academic text (1990)

  • (1979) "Development Economics: Intellectual Barbarism." In K. Brunner (ed.) Economics and Social Institutions: Insights from the Conferences on Analysis and Ideology, 41-58. Boston: Martinus Nijhoff.

    Academic text (2018)

  • The student was criticized for his frequent use of barbarisms in his essays, which confused the intended meaning.

  • Some educators believe that embracing new terms is essential, while others caution against the barbarism of abandoning traditional language rules.

Antonyms

standard
675 2.7

Generally used and accepted as correct

correctness
8 3.5

A state of being accurate and matching facts or rules

Surface Forms

barbarism singular
barbarisms plural

Morphology

barbarism = barbarous (semi-transparent) = barbar + ism

The construction is the same ('barbarous' + '-ism'), but the specialized linguistic sense 'nonstandard word or usage' is a metaphorical extension that may not be obvious to all learners.

Etymology

Barbarism was also used for a 'foreign' or 'wrong' word because Greek speakers called strange speech barbaros. This is the same root in barbarian, so a barbarism in language is a 'nonstandard' or unacceptable use of words.