Etymology

Berber

B3E1R1B3E1R1

Today it means: A member of a particular ethnic group indigenous to Western North Africa. Full definition →

Arabic بَرْبَرِيّ (barbariyy) ← Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros)
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The story

  1. Ancient Greekβάρβαρος (bárbaros)
  2. Arabicبَرْبَر (barbar)
  3. Arabicـِيّ (-iyy)
  4. Arabicبَرْبَرِيّ (barbariyy)
  5. English todayBerber

From Arabic بَرْبَرِيّ (barbariyy, “Berber”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “non-Greek, foreign, barbarian”), apparently imitative of foreign speech. Cognate of English barbarian.

Words from the same roots

Ancient Greekβάρβαρος all →

BarbarabarbarousBarabrabarbarocracy

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.