pastiche

Pronunciation

• IPA: /pæˈstiːʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French pastiche,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Italian pasticcio (“medley; pie”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Vulgar Latin *pastīcium “made of paste”,^[3][4] from Late Latin pasta (“paste, pastry”).^[3][4] It is related to pasta.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

A medley made up of fragments from different works (1878).^[7][3][4][5]

Semantic evolution

The Italian form pasticcio was borrowed earlier, in 1752,^[4] and the French form is now the more general.^[7] The sense of a work openly imitating the style of earlier works^[2][5][6] and the verb “to imitate the style of” (1957) followed.^[7]

Timeline

• 1752 – pasticcio.^[4]
• 1878 – pastiche.^[7][3][4][5]
• 1957 – verb, to imitate the style of.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A literary, artistic or musical work that imitates the style of earlier works, often affectionately or satirically.
2. A work made up of pieces from different sources; a potpourri or hodgepodge.

Word family

• pasticheur

Related words

• pasticcio
• pasta

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f 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 Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c 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