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Barbarous
//ˈbɑː(ɹ)bəɹəs// adj
Definitions
Adjective
- 1 Not classical or pure.
"He, that would write exactly, muſt avoid a Barbarous Pronunciation, and conſider for facility, or thorow miſtake, many words are not ſounded after the beſt dialect. Such as […] Wun, one."
- 2 Uncivilized, uncultured.
"[T]he poticaries and barbarus wryters call it [the iris] Irios in the genetiue caſe."
- 3 Mercilessly or impudently violent or cruel, savage.
"Direct my weapon to his barbarous heart, / That thus oppoſeth him againſt the Gods, / And ſcornes the Powers that gouerne Perſea."
- 4 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"
Adjective
- 1 primitive in customs and culture wordnet
- 2 (of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering wordnet
Etymology
Late Middle English, from Latin barbarus (“foreigner, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, strange”).
See also for "barbarous"
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