BARBARISM • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Barbarism

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/bˈɑrbərˌɪzəm/ Listen

noun

Barbarism n.

An uncivilized state or condition; rudeness of manners; ignorance of arts, learning, and literature; barbarousness.

A barbarous, cruel, or brutal action; an outrage. "A heinous barbarism... against the honor of marriage."

An offense against purity of style or language; any form of speech contrary to the pure idioms of a particular language. See Solecism. "The Greeks were the first that branded a foreign term in any of their writers with the odious name of barbarism."

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Etymology of 'Barbarism'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Barbarism" Quotes from Famous Books

... half and quarter thrusts of former Wars, they find the aim of all theory, the supremacy of mind over matter, and modern Wars appear to them mere savage fisticuffs, from which nothing is to be learnt, and which must be regarded as mere retrograde steps towards barbarism. This opinion is as frivolous as the objects to which it relates. Where great forces and great passions are wanting, it is certainly easier for a practised dexterity to show its game; but is then the command of great forces, not in itself a higher exercise of the intelligent faculties? Is then ...

— On War • Carl von Clausewitz

... discoveries being stopped by the Senate of Carthage, those who happened to be in the newly discovered countries, cut off from all communication with their countrymen, and being destitute of many of the necessaries of life, easily fell into a state of barbarism. ...

— Chronicles of Border Warfare • Alexander Scott Withers

... use of substances of intrinsic value as the materials of a currency, is a barbarism;—a remnant of the conditions of barter, which alone render commerce possible among savage nations. It is, however, still necessary, partly as a mechanical check on arbitrary issues; partly as a means ...

— The Crown of Wild Olive • John Ruskin

... that the old custom of "heriot" was practised here; which is not improbable, as instances have occurred in neighbourhood of Bromsgrove and other parts of the county within the past few years. This relic of feudalism, or barbarism, consists of the demanding for the lord of the manor the best movable article, live or dead, that any tenant happens to be possessed of at the time of ...

— Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham - A History And Guide Arranged Alphabetically • Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell

... manners of our ancestors at this period would have furnished to the modern eye the strangest mixture of luxury and of barbarism. Forks were still unknown, and the courtesy fingers, the index and the middle of the left hand, took their place. To use any others was accounted the worst of manners. A crowd of dogs lay among the rushes growling at each other and quarreling over the gnawed bones which were ...

— Sir Nigel • Arthur Conan Doyle

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