See Also: mikva(dictionary)

barbarism (iou) and mikva (iou)


barbarism (iou)



barbarism noun. LME.
[Old & mod. French barbarisme from Latin barbarismus from Greek barbarismos, from barbarizein behave or speak like a foreigner: see -ISM.]
Uncivilized Nature or condition; uncultured ignorance; absence of culture; barbaric style (in Art etc.), unrestrainedness. LME.
A. P. Stanley The imperceptible boundary between civilisation and barbarism. K. Clark Its sculpture is miserably crude, without even the vitality of barbarism.
b. A trait or characteristic of such uncivilized condition. M17.
J. Howell Plundering and Other barbarismes that reign now abroad.
The use of words and idioms not in accordance with the (supposed) normal standard language, esp. of those of foreign origin; absence of cultivation in language. M16.
b. A foreign, non-classical, or non-standard word or idiom. L16.
= BARBARITY 3. E-M17.

mikva (iou)



mikva noun. Also mikvah, mikveh. M19.
[Yiddish mikve from Hebrew miqweh lit. 'collection, mass, esp. of water'.]
A bath in which certain Jewish ritual purifications are performed; the action of taking such a bath.