cartoonist

Etymology

It is formed from English cartoon + -ist,^[2][3][4] a hybrid of the English noun and a suffix of Greek origin.^[4] Cartoon is from French carton or directly Italian cartone (“strong, heavy paper, pasteboard”), at first a preliminary drawing on such paper.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

An artist who draws cartoons: 1855 in Etymonline,^[3] 1880 in the OED, whose first quotation is from the Daily News of 28 December.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word followed the newspaper sense of cartoon, recorded by 1843: from the 1670s a cartoon had been a drawing on strong paper, used as a model for another work.^[3] The first newspaper cartoons argued for or attacked a political party or idea, and only later were they also simply comic.^[3] The OED's entry, first published in 1888, has not been revised.^[2]

Timeline

• 1855 – an artist who draws cartoons.^[3] The OED's first quotation is from 1880.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. An artist who draws cartoons, as in newspapers and magazines: The cartoonist sketched the mayor as a weathervane.^[2][5]

Related words

• cartoon
• carton
• card
• chart

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster