baroque

Pronunciation

• IPA: /bəˈɹɒk/, /bəˈɹəʊk/ (UK); /bəˈɹoʊk/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French baroque (“irregular”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Portuguese barroco (“irregularly shaped pearl”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} of uncertain origin,^[4][3][6] perhaps related to Spanish berrueco “granite crag; irregular pearl” and to Latin verrūca “wart”.^[4][6] Random House suggests conflation with the Medieval Latin baroco, a name for a kind of syllogism,^[6] and Klein suggests a link with the painter Federico Barocci.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Irregularly shaped, whimsical, grotesque; at first a jeweller's term (1765).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The word described pearls of uneven shape before it was applied to a style of art and architecture that later critics derided as clumsy and extravagantly ornamented.^[4][7] It came to name the style of European art and architecture from the late 16th to the 18th century, marked by bold, curving forms, rich ornament and dramatic effect,^[2][5][6] and the style of music of about 1600–1750.^[2][6] As a noun it dates from 1877–79.^[5][7] Fowler distinguished baroque, marked by grandeur and weight, from rococo, marked by grace and lightness.^[4]

Timeline

• 1765 – irregular, grotesque; of a style of decoration.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1877 – noun, the baroque style or period.^[5]
• 1879 – noun, grotesque ornamentation.^[7]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. (often capitalized) Of a style of art and architecture in Europe from the late 16th to the 18th century, marked by bold curving forms, elaborate ornament and dramatic effect.
2. (often capitalized) Of a style of music of about 1600 to 1750, marked by strict forms and elaborate ornamentation.
3. Extravagantly ornate, complex or bizarre; flamboyant.
4. Of a pearl, irregularly shaped.

Noun

1. The baroque style or period in art, architecture or music.

Word family

• baroquely

Related words

• rococo
• verruca
• ornate

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press