Wordwyrt

barbarous

/ˈbɑːbəəs/BAHR-bur-uhs
/ˈbɑɹbɚəs/BAHR-bur-uhs

Meaningoutlandish

Common meaning: savagely cruel

Journey through time

  1. Greekβάρβαρος‘outlandish, babbling in a non-Greek tongue’
  2. Latinbarbarus
  3. Middle Englishbarbarsource
  4. Englishbarbarous‘savagely cruel’ · today

barbar also in: barbarian

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

  • UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
  • No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
  • US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
  • No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Greek βάρβαρος ‘outlandish, babbling in a non-Greek tongue’.

Did you know: our wording, based on Liddell & Scott, Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon (1889), entry βάρβαρος, p. 146 · dictionary scan

Roots

Related words

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