Standard Lemma guide

Berber

adj · name · noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /ˈbɜːbə/
  • Canada, US: /ˈbɝ.bɚ/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)bə(ɹ)
  • CMU ARPABET: B ER1 B ER0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Of the Berber people, their culture, or their language.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: not-comparable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

name

Meaning 2

A group of closely related Afroasiatic languages spoken in northern Africa, particularly Morocco and Algeria.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A member of a particular ethnic group indigenous to Western North Africa.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: potentially offensive; occasionally proscribed; potentially offensive; occasionally proscribed

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: Amazigh, Imazighen

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A kind of traditional rug manufactured by the Berber people.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Qualifier: plural only "Berbers"

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

a cluster of related dialects that were once the major language of northern Africa west of Egypt; now spoken mostly in Morocco

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: Afroasiatic, Afro-Asiatic, Afroasiatic language, Afrasian, Afrasian language, Hamito-Semitic

Narrower terms: Tuareg

6

noun

Meaning 6

a member of an indigenous people of northern Africa

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: African

Narrower terms: Almoravid, Riff, Riffian

History

Etymology

From Arabic بَرْبَرِيّ (barbariyy, “Berber”), from Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, “non-Greek, foreign, barbarian”), apparently imitative of foreign speech. Cognate of English barbarian.

Across languages

Translations

89 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Arabic: أَمَازِيغِيّ (ʔamāzīḡiyy) — of the Berber people
  • Catalan: berber — of the Berber people
  • Catalan: amazic — of the Berber people
  • Czech: berberský — of the Berber people
  • Dutch: Berbers — of the Berber people
  • Finnish: berberi- — of the Berber people
  • Finnish: berberien — of the Berber people
  • French: berbère — of the Berber people
  • Greek: βερβερικός (ververikós) — of the Berber people
  • Hindi: बर्बर (barbar) — of the Berber people
  • Hindi: बार्बर (bārbar) — of the Berber people
  • Icelandic: berberskur — of the Berber people
  • Irish: Beirbeireach — of the Berber people
  • Japanese: ベルベル人 (Beruberu-jin) — of the Berber people
  • Norwegian Bokmål: berbisk — of the Berber people
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: berbisk — of the Berber people
  • Polish: berberyjski — of the Berber people
  • Serbo-Croatian: бѐрберскӣ — of the Berber people
  • Serbo-Croatian: bèrberskī — of the Berber people
  • Tarifit: amaziɣ — of the Berber people
  • Tarifit: tamaziɣt — of the Berber people
  • Arabic: أَمَازِيغِيَّة (ʔamāzīḡiyya) — a group of closely related languages
  • Arabic: شلحة (šelḥa) — a group of closely related languages
  • Catalan: berber — a group of closely related languages
  • Catalan: amazic — a group of closely related languages
  • Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (tamaziɣt) — a group of closely related languages
  • Chinese Mandarin: 柏柏爾語 /柏柏尔语 (Bóbó'ěryǔ) — a group of closely related languages
  • Czech: berberština — a group of closely related languages
  • Danish: berbisk — a group of closely related languages
  • Finnish: berberi — a group of closely related languages
  • Finnish: berberikieli — a group of closely related languages
  • French: berbère — a group of closely related languages
  • German: Berber — a group of closely related languages
  • Irish: Beirbeiris — a group of closely related languages
  • Japanese: ベルベル語 (Beruberu-go) — a group of closely related languages
  • Norwegian Bokmål: berbisk — a group of closely related languages
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: berbisk — a group of closely related languages
  • Occitan: berbèr — a group of closely related languages
  • Portuguese: berbere — a group of closely related languages
  • Russian: бербе́рский (berbérskij) — a group of closely related languages
  • Spanish: beréber — a group of closely related languages
  • Tarifit: tamaziɣt — a group of closely related languages
  • Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵛⵍⵃⵉⵢⵜ (taclḥiyt) — a group of closely related languages
  • Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⵜ (tamaziɣt) — a group of closely related languages
  • Walloon: amazir — a group of closely related languages
  • Arabic: أَمَازِيغِيّ (ʔamāzīḡiyy) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Armenian: բերբեր (berber) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Catalan: berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Central Atlas Tamazight: ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ (amaziɣ) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Central Atlas Tamazight: ⵉⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖⴻⵏ (imaziɣen) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Chinese Mandarin: 柏柏爾 /柏柏尔 (Bóbó'ěr) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Czech: Berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Danish: Berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Danish: berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Esperanto: berbero — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Finnish: berberi — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • French: Berbère — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • German: Berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • German: Berberin — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Greek: Βέρβερος (Vérveros) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Ancient Greek: Μάξυος (Máxuos) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Hindi: बर्बर (barbar) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Hindi: बार्बर (bārbar) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Icelandic: Berberi — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Irish: Beirbeireach — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Italian: berbero — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Italian: berberi — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Japanese: ベルベル人 (Beruberu-jin) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Kabyle: amaziɣ — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Korean: 베르베르인 (bereubereu'in) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Norwegian Bokmål: berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: berbar — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Polish: Berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Polish: Berberyjka — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Portuguese: berbere — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Russian: бербе́р (berbér) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Serbo-Croatian: Бѐрбер — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Serbo-Croatian: Bèrber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Spanish: berebere — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Swedish: berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tarifit: amaziɣ — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tarifit: tamaziɣt — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tarifit: imaziɣen — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tashelhit: ⴰⵛⵍⵃⵉⵢ (aclḥiy) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tashelhit: ⵜⴰⵛⵍⵃⵉⵢⵜ (taclḥiyt) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tashelhit: ⵉⵛⵍⵃⵉⵢⵏ (iclḥiyn) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Tashelhit: ⵜⵉⵛⵍⵃⵉⵢⵉⵏ (ticlḥiyin) — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Turkish: Berberi — Member of northwest African ethnic group
  • Vietnamese: người Berber — Member of northwest African ethnic group