'barbarization' originates from English, via the verb 'barbarize' (formed by adding the noun-forming suffix '-ation' to the verb). 'Barbarize' ultimately comes from Late Latin 'barbarizare' and Greek 'barbarizein', where 'barbar-' (from Greek 'barbaros') meant 'foreign, strange, or uncivilized'.

'barbarization' changed from the verb-form use in early modern English (from French 'barbariser' and Late Latin 'barbarizare') and eventually became the modern English noun 'barbarization' through regular suffixation and noun formation.

Initially related to labeling someone or something as 'foreign' or 'strange' ('barbaros'), the sense shifted to emphasize lack of civilization or refinement; today it usually means 'the process of making brutal, uncivilized, or culturally degraded.'