Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive & intransitive verb To make or become crude, savage, or barbarous.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To speak or write like a barbarian or foreigner; use barbarisms in speech or writing.
- To become barbarous.
- To corrupt (language, art, etc.) by introducing impurities, or by departing from recognized classical standards.
- To render barbarous.
- Also spelled
barbarise .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To make barbarous.
- intransitive verb To become barbarous.
- intransitive verb To adopt a foreign or barbarous mode of speech.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb to cause to become savage or uncultured
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb make crude or savage in behavior or speech
- verb become crude or savage or barbaric in behavior or language
Etymologies
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Examples
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This might tend to barbarize, demoralize, and exasperate the whole mass and produce most deplorable consequences.
State of the Union Address (1790-2001) United States. Presidents.
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"Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us, by a constant, steady, uniform, insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in."
The Elements of Character Mary G. Chandler
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Italian, or their native tongue; Pombal declaring, that the custom of speaking Latin was only "to teach them to barbarize."
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 56, No. 345, July, 1844 Various
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The legions are barbarized and they barbarize the Emperor.
Medieval People Eileen Edna Power 1914
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He never had a family to de-barbarize, even though he did write very pretty books about the subject.
The Prairie Mother Arthur Stringer 1912
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George Meredith says a good thing in 'Diana of the Crossways': 'Before you can civilize a man, you must first de-barbarize him.'
The Valley of Vision : a Book of Romance an Some Half Told Tales Henry Van Dyke 1892
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Manners are what vex or soothe, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine us by a constant, steady, uniform, invincible operation like that of the air we breathe.
Pushing to the Front Orison Swett Marden 1887
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This might tend to barbarize, demoralize, and exasperate the whole mass and produce most deplorable consequences.
A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents Volume 5, part 4: James Buchanan 1878
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Manners are what vex or soothe, corrupt or purify, exalt or debase, barbarize or refine, by a constant, steady, uniform and insensible operation, like that of the air we breathe in.
A Manual of Etiquette with Hints on Politeness and Good Breeding Sophia Orne 1873
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The institution had been wiped out in New England, not by enfranchisement, but by sale to the people of the South, when no longer useful or valuable at home; and all the sin of slavery had followed the slave, to barbarize and degrade the people of the South.
The Memories of Fifty Years Sparks, William H 1870
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