barbarism

English

Pronunciation
  • (UK) IPA(key): /ˈbɑː(ɹ)bəɹɪz(ə)m/
  • (General American) enPR: bärʹbə-rĭz'm, IPA(key): /ˈbɑɹbəˈɹɪzm̩/

Noun

barbarism (countable and uncountable, plural barbarisms)

  1. A barbaric act.
    These barbarisms can not be allowed to continue; they must be crushed or civilization will collapse.
  2. The condition of existing barbarically.
    • 1879, William Tecumseh Sherman, Address to the Michigan Military Academy
      War is at best barbarism... Its glory is all moonshine.
  3. An error in language use within a single word, such as a mispronunciation.
    • 2002, Hyman, Bad Grammar in Context, New England Classical Journal, 29, p. 94-101
      In the jargon of the ancient grammarian, penacilin would be a barbarism.

Translations
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