The quality or state of being barbarous; cruelty, savagery, or extreme lack of civilization.
From 'barbarous' (adjective) + '-ness' noun suffix, creating an abstract noun meaning the quality or condition of being barbarous. The root 'barbarous' ultimately traces to Latin 'barbarus' and Greek 'barbaros.'
This word became especially popular in the Enlightenment when philosophers wanted to make civilization sound scientific—by naming 'barbarousness' as a measurable quality, they thought they could prove some societies were more advanced than others, though we now know this ranking was just bias dressed up as philosophy.
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