Barbarian is a word used to describe an uncivilized or uncultivated person. It comes from the Greek word barbaros, which at first meant simply a person who spoke a language the ancient Greeks could not understand. But soon the word also came to mean non-Greek or foreigner. Later, the Romans applied the Latin word barbarus to such peoples as the Goths, Vandals, and Huns, who lived outside the Roman Empire. Many of these "barbarians" entered the empire either peacefully or by force during the A.D. 300's and 400's, and contributed to its destruction.