Barbara

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A female given name of Latin origin often used in various cultures to denote a woman, sometimes associated with meanings related to foreignness or being an outsider ; the name as a proper noun identifying a specific individual or character ; occasionally referring to places or entities named after persons bearing this name
2. A personal name typically assigned to women, rooted in historical and linguistic traditions implying a foreign or strange origin ; the appellation for certain figures in literature, history, or contemporary settings ; can also identify geographic locations or institutions named accordingly
3. A common feminine title used across languages signifying a person, traditionally connected to the concept of non-native or foreign; serves as a distinctive designation for various notable people or fictional characters; also found as the basis for naming towns, organizations, or landmarks

Etymology: The most surprising thing about "barbara" is that the logic mnemonic came first in a sense: in medieval syllogistic logic, scholars chose this name because its three A's stood for three universal affirmative propositions, a neat trick for memorising one valid form of argument. The name itself, though, carries an older and less flattering idea. It comes from Latin "Barbara," the name of Saint Barbara, which is the feminine form of "barbarus," itself borrowed from Ancient Greek "bárbaros," meaning "strange" or "foreign." Barbarus began as a label for anyone whose speech sounded to Greek ears like unintelligible babbling, so a name built on it originally marked its bearer as an outsider. Over the centuries that sense faded from the personal name, which became one of the most widely used feminine names in Europe, with the Latin form carrying through many languages. A closely related form, "Varvara," developed in Eastern Europe and Russia, so the two versions are doublets, separate descendants of the same source.

Synonyms: Barbara (name), female name