To make something or someone barbaric, crude, or uncivilized; or to corrupt language or culture.
From 'barbarian,' derived from Latin 'barbarus' (foreign, wild), plus the verb-forming suffix '-ize.' Used since the 1500s with cultural connotations.
Medieval scholars used 'barbarize' to mean 'corrupt Latin'—they were terrified that their sacred language was degenerating, not realizing they were watching it evolve into Romance languages.
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