Bar"ba*rism (bär"b&adot;*r&ibreve;z'm), n. [L. barbarismus, Gr. barbarismo`s; cf. F. barbarisme.] 1. An uncivilized state or condition; rudeness of manners; ignorance of arts, learning, and literature; barbarousness. Prescott.

2. A barbarous, cruel, or brutal action; an outrage.

A heinous barbarism . . . against the honor of marriage.
Milton.

3. An offense against purity of style or language; any form of speech contrary to the pure idioms of a particular language. See Solecism.

The Greeks were the first that branded a foreign term in any of their writers with the odious name of barbarism.
G. Campbell.