Berbers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An indigenous North African ethnic group primarily found in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia
2. A collection of ethnic communities in North Africa known for their distinct languages and rich cultural heritage
3. A term referring to the indigenous peoples of the Maghreb region, often associated with traditional lifestyles and historical significance

Etymology: The plural of "Berber" carries a Greek insult inside it. Ancient Greeks called anyone who did not speak Greek "barbaros", a word apparently imitating the sound of foreign speech as opposed to real language. Arabic speakers later took this Greek term and turned it into "barbariyy", which referred to the peoples of North Africa, and the English name came through that Arabic form. So the word for these communities is, at root, a Greek label for outsiders that was passed on through Arabic. It is cognate with English "barbarian", which came into English through Latin from the same Greek source, so the two words are relatives that took different routes. The name the peoples use for themselves is a separate matter, and the English term reflects how outsiders labelled them.

Synonyms: amazigh, tuareg