barbary

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a region of northern Africa on the Mediterranean coast between Egypt and Gibraltar; was used as a base for pirates from the 16th to 19th centuries

Etymology

From Middle English barbarye (“barbarian, non-Christian”), from Old French [Term?] and Medieval Latin [Term?].

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