bárbaro
Galician
Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese barbaro, from Latin barbarus (“foreign, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, strange”), of onomatopoeic origin, mimicking the sound of foreign languages. Doublet of bravo, possibly.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbaɾbaɾo/ [ˈbaɾ.β̞a.ɾʊ]
- Rhymes: -aɾbaɾo
Noun
bárbaro m (plural bárbaros, feminine bárbara, feminine plural bárbaras)
- barbarian
- 1859, J. Domínguez d'Esquerdo, Coroas e cadeas do fidalgo povo galicián:
- ¿Galicia? ... ¿Ónd'stá? ¿Ónde vai a nosa fermosa e podente Galicia? ¿Ónde pára? ¿ónde? aquela casta d'héroes fartos qu'o mesmo tremaron as follas das súas coitelas diante das naceós veciñas, acoradas, escorrentadas, por os bárbaros e a mouramia
- Galicia? Where are you? What have become of our beauty a strong Galicia? Where it is now? Where that lineage of lavish heroes who waved their blades before the neighbouring nations, frightened, driven away by the barbarians and the Moors?
Adjective
bárbaro (feminine bárbara, masculine plural bárbaros, feminine plural bárbaras)
- barbarian, uncivilised, uncultured
- (informal) great, fantastic
References
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, editor (2006–2013), “bárbaro”, in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega [Dictionary of Dictionaries of the Galician language] (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Antón Luís Santamarina Fernández, Ernesto Xosé González Seoane, María Álvarez de la Granja, editors (2003–2018), “bárbaro”, in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega
- Rosario Álvarez Blanco, editor (2014–2024), “bárbaro”, in Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (in Galician), Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega, →ISSN
Portuguese
Etymology
From Old Galician-Portuguese barbaro, from Latin barbarus (“foreign, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, strange”), of onomatopoeic origin, mimicking the sound of foreign languages. Doublet of berbere and, possibly, of bravo / brabo.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈbaʁ.ba.ɾu/ [ˈbaɦ.ba.ɾu]
- (São Paulo) IPA(key): /ˈbaɾ.ba.ɾu/
- (Rio de Janeiro) IPA(key): /ˈbaʁ.ba.ɾu/
- (Southern Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈbaɻ.ba.ɾo/
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈbaɾ.bɐ.ɾu/ [ˈbaɾ.βɐ.ɾu]
- Hyphenation: bár‧ba‧ro
Adjective
bárbaro (feminine bárbara, masculine plural bárbaros, feminine plural bárbaras)
- barbarian; uncivilised
- Synonyms: selvagem, incivilizado
- wicked; evil; cruel
- (Brazil, slang) awesome; wicked; brilliant; excellent
Derived terms
Noun
bárbaro m (plural bárbaros, feminine bárbara, feminine plural bárbaras)
- (historical) barbarian (member of peoples considered uncivilised by the Romans and Greeks)
- barbarian (uncivilised person)
- barbarian (a cruel and violent person)
- Synonym: bruto
Further reading
- “bárbaro”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin barbarus (“foreign, savage”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “foreign, strange”), of onomatopoeic origin, mimicking the sound of foreign languages.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈbaɾbaɾo/ [ˈbaɾ.β̞a.ɾo]
- Rhymes: -aɾbaɾo
- Syllabification: bár‧ba‧ro
Adjective
bárbaro (feminine bárbara, masculine plural bárbaros, feminine plural bárbaras)
- barbaric
- (colloquial) enormous
- (colloquial) stupendous
- (colloquial) cool
Noun
bárbaro m (plural bárbaros, feminine bárbara, feminine plural bárbaras)
Derived terms
Related terms
Further reading
- “bárbaro”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024
- “bárbaro”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010