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Barbarians
is certainly not derived from the Latin barba (a beard),
as many suppose, because it is a Greek word, and has many analogous
ones. The Greeks and Romans called all foreigners barbarians
(babblers; men who spoke a language not understood by them); the Jews
called them Gentiles (other nations); the Russians Ostiaks
(foreigners). The reproachful meaning crept in from the natural egotism
of man. It is not very long ago that an Englishman looked with
disdainful pity on a foreigner, and the French still retain much of the
same national exclusiveness. (See Wunderberg.)
“If then I know not the meaning of the voice [words ], I shall
be to him that speaketh a barbarian [a foreigner ], and he that
speaketh will be a barbarian unto me.”—l Cor. xiv. ll.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Barbarians from Infoplease:
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