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