barbarian
英 [bɑ?'be?r??n]
美 [bɑr'b?r??n]
助記提示
1. 古希臘人很看不起外地人，說外地人講話是 *barbar-，這是一個擬聲詞根，模擬小孩咿呀學語時口齒不清的聲音、發音，由此表示“說話像孩子那樣口齒不清”，現在演化為 barbarous "未開化的"、barbarian "野蠻人，就像咱們稱呼未開化的外族人為：蠻人、夷人、胡人等"。漢語說“巴拉巴拉”時，也是一種擬聲、也是一種貶義，這時英語用 blah-blah，這與漢語的擬聲完全一樣。
2. from PIE root *barbar- echoic of unintelligible speech of foreigners.
3. Originally not entirely pejorative, its sense darkened after the Persian wars. The Romans (technically themselves barbaroi) took up the word and applied it to tribes or nations which had no Greek or Roman accomplishments.
4. barbar- + -ian.
中文詞源
barbarian 野蠻人barbar, 擬聲詞，模仿含混不清說話的聲音，既指野蠻人，也指外國人。
英文詞源
- barbarian (adj.)
- mid-14c., from Medieval Latin barbarinus (source of Old French barbarin "Berber, pagan, Saracen, barbarian"), from Latin barbaria "foreign country," from Greek barbaros "foreign, strange, ignorant," from PIE root *barbar- echoic of unintelligible speech of foreigners (compare Sanskrit barbara- "stammering," also "non-Aryan," Latin balbus "stammering," Czech blblati "to stammer").
Greek barbaroi (n.) meant "all that are not Greek," but especially the Medes and Persians. Originally not entirely pejorative, its sense darkened after the Persian wars. The Romans (technically themselves barbaroi) took up the word and applied it to tribes or nations which had no Greek or Roman accomplishments. The noun is from late 14c., "person speaking a language different from one's own," also (c. 1400) "native of the Barbary coast;" meaning "rude, wild person" is from 1610s.
雙語例句
- 1. Our maths teacher was a bully and a complete barbarian.
- 我們的數學老師是個壞蛋，一個徹頭徹尾的野蠻人。
來自柯林斯例句
- 2. We need to fight this barbarian attitude to science.
- 我們需要與這種對待科學的野蠻態度作斗爭。
來自柯林斯例句
- 3. barbarian invasions of the fifth century
- 五世紀時野蠻人的入侵
來自《權威詞典》
- 4. The walled city was attacked by barbarian hordes.
- 那座有城墻的城市遭到野蠻部落的襲擊.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》
- 5. The rest of the clan thinks the uniform is only fit for a barbarian or a man of the lowest class.
- 家族里的其他人員認為,這樣的制服只適合野蠻人或最低賤的人穿.
來自《簡明英漢詞典》