barbarian (English)

Where does "barbarian" come from?

The English word 'barbarian' descends from Middle English 'barbarian'[1], which was borrowed from Medieval Latin 'barbarinus'[1], meaning 'Berber, pagan, or foreigner'[1]. This Medieval Latin term arose from Latin 'barbaria'[1], meaning 'foreign country'[1], which derived from the Latin and Ancient Greek word 'barbarus'[1][4], meaning 'foreign, non-Greek, or strange'[1][4]. The Ancient Greek 'βάρβαρος' is thought to be an onomatopoeic formation mimicking the incomprehensible sounds of foreign languages, similar to modern expressions like 'blah blah'[1][2][4].

Open questions

The Ancient Greek term barbarus is possibly onomatopoeic or related to the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European root balb- meaning tongue-tied. [1] [2] [4]

Full etymology tree

barbarian (English), 'Relating to people, countries, or customs perceived as uncivilized or inferior.'
- borrowed barbarian (Middle English)
  - borrowed barbarinus (Medieval Latin)
    - derived barbaria (Latin), 'foreign country'
      - derived barbarus (Latin), 'foreign, strange'
        borrowed βάρβαρος (bárbaros) (Ancient Greek), 'non-Greek-speaking, foreign'
        derived *balb- (Proto-Indo-European)
      - suffix -ia (Latin), 'Used to form a first declension feminine abstract noun, usually from an adjective ending in -us, or (rarely in later Latin) one ending in -ius, or from a present participle stem, and occasionally from a root noun.'

Ancestors

barbaria (Latin)
βάρβαρος (Ancient Greek)

Cognates and doublets

बर्बर (Sanskrit)

Descendants and derived words

barbarianess (English)
barbarianism (English)
semibarbarian (English)

Sources

Updated September 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris