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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