Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Barbarism \Bar"ba*rism\, n. [L. barbarismus, Gr. ?; cf. F.
   barbarisme.]
   1. An uncivilized state or condition; rudeness of manners;
      ignorance of arts, learning, and literature;
      barbarousness. --Prescott.

   2. A barbarous, cruel, or brutal action; an outrage.

            A heinous barbarism . . . against the honor of
            marriage.                             --Milton.

   3. An offense against purity of style or language; any form
      of speech contrary to the pure idioms of a particular
      language. See {Solecism}.

            The Greeks were the first that branded a foreign
            term in any of their writers with the odious name of
            barbarism.                            --G. Campbell.

Source : WordNet®

barbarism
     n : a brutal barbarous savage act [syn: {brutality}, {barbarity},
          {savagery}]