rococo

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɹəˈkəʊkəʊ/ (UK)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French rococo,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} apparently a playful alteration of French rocaille (“pebble-work, shellwork”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from roc, roche “rock”,^[2][3][4][6] from Vulgar Latin *rocca.^[2][3][4] Barnhart suggests a humorous substitution of French coco, as in cocorico “cock-a-doodle-doo”.^[3] The reference is probably to the lavish use of shell designs in the style.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, old-fashioned or antiquated, with reference to the rococo style (1836).^[7][3][4][6]

Semantic evolution

From 1841 the adjective described furniture and architecture of the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XV, with conventional shell and scroll work and lavish ornament.^[7][4][6] The noun, the style itself, dates from 1840.^[7][3][4][5] The general sense “tastelessly florid or ornate” is recorded from 1844,^[4] and the word came to be used, sometimes contemptuously, of anything over-elaborate in art or literature.^[4][2][5] It is also applied to a light, highly ornamented musical style of the mid-18th century that followed the baroque.^[2][5][8]

Timeline

• 1836 – adjective, old-fashioned.^[7][3][4]
• 1840 – noun, the rococo style.^[7][3][5]
• 1841 – of 18th-century French furniture and architecture.^[7][5]
• 1844 – tastelessly florid.^[4]
• 1876 – a piece of rococo work.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A style of art and especially architecture and decoration, originating in France in the early 18th century from the baroque, marked by elegant, fanciful curves and elaborate ornament of scrolls, shellwork and foliage.
2. A style of 18th-century music following the baroque, characterized by lightness and elaborate ornamentation.
3. A very ornate style of speech or writing.

Adjective

1. Of or relating to the rococo.
2. Excessively ornate, elaborate or intricate.
3. Old-fashioned.

Word family

• barococo

Related words

• rock
• rocaille
• baroque

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House