Where does “barbarian” come from?
Barbarian comes from Middle English barbarian, from Medieval Latin barbarinus, from Latin barbaria, from Latin barbarus, from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος, ultimately from the reduplicative Ancient Greek βαρ-βαρ.
barbarian (English): Relating to people, countries or customs...
Definitions
- Relating to people, countries or customs...
Ancestry of “barbarian”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | barbarian | — |
| 2 | Medieval Latin | barbarinus | Berber, pagan, Saracen, barbarian |
| 3 | Latin | barbaria | foreign country; barbarity, barbarism; brutality |
| 4 | Latin | -ia | Used to form a feminine abstract noun, usually... |
| 5 | Latin | -ius | forming adjectives from nouns; nominative neuter... |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | -jōs | Forms comparative adjectives |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | -yós | Creates adjectives from noun or verb stems |