Etymologically
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pastiche

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 11 October 2026 at 11:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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
  • 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