barbarous

English

Alternative forms

• (obsolete) barbarouse

Etymology

Late Middle English, from Latin barbarus (“foreigner, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, strange”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɑː(ɹ)bəɹəs/

Audio (US):

(file)

Adjective

barbarous (comparative more barbarous, superlative most barbarous)

1. (said of language) Not classical or pure.
2. uncivilized, uncultured
   • 1801, Isaac Watts, The improvement of the mind, or A supplement to the art of logic:

     It is the remark of an ingenious writer, should a barbarous Indian, who had never seen a palace or a ship, view their separate and disjointed parts, and observe the pillars, doors, windows, cornices and turrets of the one, or the prow and stern, the ribs and masts, the ropes and shrouds, the sails and tackle of the other, he would be able to form but a very lame and dark idea of either of those excellent and useful inventions.

3. Like a barbarian, especially in sound; noisy, dissonant.

   I did but prompt the age to quit their cloggs

   By the known rules of antient libertie,

   When strait a barbarous noise environs me

   Of Owles and Cuckoes, Asses, Apes and Doggs - I did but prompt the age to quit their cloggs, John Milton (1673)

Derived terms

• barbarously
• barbarousness

Related terms

• barbarian
• barbaric

Translations

barbarian — see barbarian

barbaric — see barbaric

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Irish: ^{(please verify)} ainchríostúil, ^{(please verify)} barbartha, ^{(please verify)} danartha
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Swahili: ^{(please verify)} shenzi