barbarity

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   extreme cruelty or brutal, inhuman behavior

   Witnesses were appalled by the barbarity inflicted on the prisoners.

2. 2
   noun

   a particular act of extreme cruelty

   The report documented each barbarity committed during the occupation.

From French barbarité and Latin barbaritās, 'foreignness, uncivilized condition,' from barbarus, 'foreign or barbarous,' ultimately Greek barbaros. As barbarian shifted from 'foreigner' to 'uncivilized or cruel person,' barbarity developed its modern emphasis on brutal cruelty.

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