bar|bar|i|an

bar|bar|i|an «bahr BAIR ee uhn», noun, adjective.

–n.

1. a person belonging to a people or a tribe that is not civilized: »

Rome was conquered by the barbarians.

2. a person who rejects or lacks interest in literature the arts.

3. any foreigner, differing from the speaker or writer in language and customs. In ancient times, a barbarian was successively a person who was not a Greek, a person outside of the Roman Empire untutored in its civilization, or (sometimes) a person who was not a Christian.

–adj.

1. not civilized; cruel and coarse: »

The children of warring countries are often victims of barbarian treatment.

2. of barbarians: »

barbarian customs.

3. differing from the speaker or writer in language and customs; foreign.

╂[< Latin barbaria foreign country (< barbarus foreigner < Greek bárbaros (originally) stammering) + English -an]

Synonym Study adjective. 1 Barbarian, barbaric, barbarous mean not civilized. Barbarian suggests the full range of lack of civilization: »

The Roman Empire was conquered by barbarian peoples.

Barbaric emphasizes the love of show and the lack of refinement and gentleness, that distinguish less highly civilized peoples: »

The dress of the tribal chief was barbaric.

Barbarous, more than the others, emphasizes the harshness and cruelty of uncivilized peoples: »

Torture of prisoners is a barbarous custom.