Etymologically
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caricature

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 06:13. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈkæɹɪkəˌtʃʊə/, /ˌkæɹɪkəˈtʃʊə/ (UK); /ˈkɛɹɪkət͡ʃʊɚ/, /ˈkɛɹɪkət͡ʃɚ/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French caricature,[2][3][4] from Italian caricatura (“satirical picture; an exaggeration”),[2][5][3][4] literally “a loading, an overloading”,[5][4] from caricare “to load; to exaggerate”,[2][5][3][4] from Late Latin carricāre (“to load (a cart)”),[2][5][3] from Latin carrus “wagon”,[2][4] itself borrowed from Gaulish.[2] The word is thus related to car, cargo, carry and charge.[2][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A portrait or other representation that exaggerates the subject's characteristic features for ludicrous effect (1748).[7][3][4] Merriam-Webster dates the noun to 1712.[5] The Italian form caricatura was used in English from the 1680s and was common into the 19th century.[4][3]

Semantic evolution

A caricature is literally an “overloaded” portrait, one whose features are loaded with exaggeration.[5][4][2] The term spread from pictures to literary description (1756) and to any imitation so exaggerated or inferior as to be ludicrous (1767).[7][6] The verb is dated 1749 by Barnhart and Etymonline, which first used it figuratively, “to burlesque”.[3][4][7]

Timeline

  • 1680s – the Italian form caricatura in English.[4]
  • 1748 – a portrait exaggerating characteristic features.[7][3][4]
  • 1749 – verb, to burlesque.[7][3][4]
  • 1756 – of literary representation.[7]
  • 1767 – an exaggerated or debased imitation.[7]
  • 1798 – caricaturist.[3]
  • 1827 – the art of caricature.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A picture or description in which a subject's distinctive features or defects are deliberately exaggerated for comic or grotesque effect.
  2. The art or process of making such representations.
  3. An imitation so distorted or inferior as to seem ludicrous; a travesty.

Verb

  1. To represent in caricature; to imitate in an exaggerated, distorted way.

Word family

  • caricaturist
  • caricatural
  • caricaturable

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares caricature with burlesque, parody, travesty, satire and lampoon, all of which imitate someone or something in an amusing and generally critical way.[2] A caricature grossly exaggerates a distinctive feature in order to ridicule;[2] a burlesque is usually a stage work of outlandish mimicry;[2] a parody imitates the style of a well-known work or writer;[2] a travesty is a harshly distorted imitation;[2] a satire ridicules the follies and vices of a people or time;[2] and a lampoon is a malicious but broadly humorous satire.[2]

References

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