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barbarianism

 - 2 dictionary results

bar⋅bar⋅i⋅an

[bahr-bair-ee-uhn]
–noun
1. 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


bar⋅bar⋅i⋅an⋅ism, noun


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.


6. cultivated, civilized.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To barbarianism
bar·bar·i·an   (bär-bâr'ē-ən)   
n.  
  1. A member of a people considered by those of another nation or group to have a primitive civilization.

  2. A fierce, brutal, or cruel person.

  3. An insensitive, uncultured person; a boor. See Synonyms at boor.


[French barbarien, from barbare, barbarous, from Latin barbarus; see barbarous.]
bar·bar'i·an adj., bar·bar'i·an·ism n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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