The ancient Greek word “bárbaros,” from which it derives, meant “babbler,”.In the Greek ear, speakers of a foreign tongue made unintelligible sounds (“bar bar bar”). Similar words exist in other Indo-European languages, including the Sanskrit “barbara,” which means “stammering.”The word “barbarian” originated in ancient Greece and was initially used to describe all non-Greek-speaking peoples, including Persians, Egyptians, Medes and Phoenicians.