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n. 1. a. The condition of having no civilizing influences or refined culture; ignorance or crudity: "the struggles made by different nations, as they emerge from barbarism, to supply themselves with some visible symbol of thought" (William Hickling Prescott). b. Savage violence or cruelty: "To say that the barbarism of one side [in World War I] impelled the barbarism of the other is not much of an excuse" (David A. Bell). 2. a. The use of words, forms, or expressions considered incorrect or unacceptable. b. A specific word, form, or expression so used. [Latin barbarismus, use of a foreign tongue or of one's own tongue amiss, barbarism, from Greek barbarismos, from barbarizein, to behave or speak like a barbarian, from barbaros, non-Greek, foreign (imitative of the sound of unintelligible speech).] |
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