Barbarian

Barbarian (Gr. barbaros), among the Greeks, as early as the time of Homer, signified one who could not speak the Greek language; and this restricted signification was not wholly obsolete even in the age of Plato, for the latter divides the entire human race into Hellēnes and Barbaroi. Like the Latin balbus, the word is probably onomatopoeic, meant to represent a meaningless babble of sound, such as the Greeks conceived all foreign languages to be. It first began to acquire its secondary and invidious signification at the period of the Persian wars. The Greeks, who always exhibited a proud consciousness of their superior intellect and privileges, employed the term to designate the character of their enemies, as opposed to Greek civilisation, freedom, or intelligence. Subsequently, when Rome, under Augustus, became the mistress of the world, the word was applied to all the Germanic and Scythian tribes with whom she came into contact. In modern times, barbarian signifies savage, uncivilised, or ignorant.