a person in a savage, primitive state; uncivilized person.
2.
a person without culture, refinement, or education; philistine.
3.
(loosely) a foreigner.
4.
(in ancient and medieval periods)
a.
a non-Greek.
b.
a person living outside, esp. north of, the Roman Empire.
c.
a person not living in a Christian country or within a Christian civilization.
5.
(among Italians during the Renaissance) a person of non-Italian origin.
–adjective
6.
uncivilized; crude; savage.
7.
foreign; alien.
[Origin: 1540–50; < L barbari(a) barbarous country (see barbarous, -ia) + -an]
—Related forms
bar·bar·i·an·ism, noun
—Synonyms 3. alien. 6. rude, primitive, wild, rough, barbaric, coarse, ignorant, uncultivated. Barbarian,barbaric,barbarous pertain to uncivilized people. Barbarian is the general word for anything uncivilized: a barbarian tribe. Barbaric has both unfavorable and mildly favorable connotations, implying crudeness of taste or practice, or conveying an idea of rude magnificence and splendor: barbaric noise. Barbarous emphasizes the inhumanity and cruelty of barbarian life: barbarous customs.
1338, from M.L. barbarinus, from L. barbaria "foreign country," from Gk. barbaros "foreign, strange, ignorant," from PIE base *barbar- echoic of unintelligible speech of foreigners (cf. Skt. barbara- "stammering," also "non-Aryan"). Barbaric is first recorded 1490, from O.Fr. barbarique, from L. barbaricus "foreign, strange, outlandish." Barbarous is first attested 1526.
without civilizing influences; "barbarian invaders"; "barbaric practices"; "a savage people"; "fighting is crude and uncivilized especially if the weapons are efficient"-Margaret Meade; "wild tribes"
Bar*ba"ri*an\, n. [See Barbarous.]1. A foreigner. [Historical] Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me. --? Cor. xiv. 11. 2. A man in a rule, savage, or uncivilized state. 3. A person destitute of culture. --M. Arnold. 4. A cruel, savage, brutal man; one destitute of pity or humanity. "Thou fell barbarian." --Philips.
a Greek word used in the New Testament (Rom. 1:14) to denote one of another nation. In Col. 3:11, the word more definitely designates those nations of the Roman empire that did not speak Greek. In 1 Cor. 14:11, it simply refers to one speaking a different language. The inhabitants of Malta are so called (Acts 28:1,2, 4). They were originally a Carthaginian colony. This word nowhere in Scripture bears the meaning it does in modern times.
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