Note on the Term "Barbarian"
 
 

Our English word "barbarian" can be traced back to the Ancient Greek word, (βάρβαρος Bárbaros) which meant a non-Greek; someone whose language was not Greek and someone who spoke "bar-bar," or babbled like a child (from the Greek point-of-view).  It was not originally a pejorative term; it just meant non-Greek, but by the fourth century bce it had begun to acquire a negative connotation.

 
 

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