_Etymology of "Barbarian," &c._--Passow, in his Lexicon (ed. Liddell and
Scott), s.v. [Greek: barbaros], observes that the word was originally
applied to "all that were not Greeks, or that did not speak Greek. It was
used of all defects which the Greeks thought foreign to themselves and
natural to other nations: but as the Hellenes and Barbarians were most of
all _separated by language_, the word had always especial reference to this
[Greek: glôssa barbara], Soph. Aj. 1263, &c." He considers the word as
probably an onomatopoeion, to express the sound of a foreign tongue. (Cf.
Gibbon, c. li.; Roth, _Ueber {79} Sinn u. Gebrauch des Wortes Barbar._
Nürnberg, 1814.) I am disposed to look for the root in the Hebr. [Hebrew:
BARAR] "_bâr[=a]r_," _separavit_, in its Pilpel form, [Hebrew: BARBAR]
"_barbâr;_" hence, "one who is _separated_," "a foreigner." And even though
Clel. Voc. 126., n., admits that _purus_, "clean," "_separated_ from
dross," originally signifies cleansing by fire, [Greek: pur], yet both it
and _far-farris_, "bread-corn," i. e. _separated_ from the husk, and
_fur-fur_, "bran," which is _separated_ from the flour, may find their
origin possibly from the same source.