cartoon

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɑːˈtuːn/ (UK); /kɑɹˈtun/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French carton (“pasteboard”) or directly Italian cartone (“strong, heavy paper, pasteboard”),^[2][3][4][5] an augmentative of carta, paper (see card, carton),^[4][5][6] with the suffix -oon.^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A drawing on stout paper used as a model for a painting or tapestry: 1671, in John Evelyn's diary.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The drawings were so named because they were made on such paper.^[3][2] A full-page illustration in a periodical is from 1843, when Punch announced Punch's Cartoons,^[3][2][7] at first to advocate or attack a political faction and later merely comic.^[2] An animated film is by 1911, originally of the work of Winsor McCay, and in the OED from 1916.^[2][7] The verb, to caricature in a cartoon, is from 1864 (implied) or 1884,^[2][3] and cartoonist from 1880.^[3]

Timeline

• 1671 – a preparatory drawing.^[3]
• 1843 – a comic drawing in Punch.^[3]
• 1880 – cartoonist.^[3]
• 1884 – the verb.^[3]
• 1911 – an animated film.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A humorous or satirical drawing, as in a newspaper, often about current events.
2. A comic strip.
3. An animated film.
4. A full-size preparatory drawing for a fresco, tapestry or mosaic.

Verb

1. To draw a caricature of.

Word family

• cartoonish
• cartoonist
• cartooning
• cartoonishly
• cartoonlike
• cartoony
• animated cartoon

Related words

• carton
• card
• chart
• charter

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press