graphic

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡɹæfɪk/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin graphicus (“picturesque”),^[2][3][4] from Ancient Greek γραφικός (graphikós, “of writing or drawing”), from γραφή (graphḗ, “writing, drawing”), from γράφω (gráphō, “to write”) (see -graphy).^[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Drawn with a pencil or pen: before 1637, a sense now obsolete.^[5][4][6]

Semantic evolution

Producing in words the effect of a picture, vividly descriptive, is from 1669, the 1660s in Etymonline;^[5][2] graphically, vividly, is from the 1570s.^[2] Of or relating to drawing or painting, as the graphic arts, is from 1756.^[5][2] Of writing is from 1774,^[5] and using diagrams or curves from 1866.^[5][2] Explicit in showing sex or violence is a later sense.^[7][8] The noun, a picture or diagram, as in computer graphics, is from the late 19th century,^[6] and graphic design by 1956.^[2]

Timeline

• before 1637 – drawn with a pen (obsolete).^[5]
• 1669 – vividly descriptive.^[5]
• 1756 – of drawing or painting.^[5]
• 1866 – of diagrams.^[5][2]
• 1956 – graphic design.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Giving clear and vivid details, especially of something unpleasant; explicit.
2. Of or relating to visual art, especially drawing, printing and engraving.
3. Of or using diagrams or graphs.

Noun

1. A picture, diagram or other visual image, especially one produced by computer.

Word family

• graphically
• graphicness
• graphicalness
• graph
• nongraphic
• ungraphic
• graphic design
• graphic novel

Related words

• -graphic
• graphics
• graphite
• -graphy
• grammar

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin