sketch

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈskɛt͡ʃ/^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Dutch schets or German Skizze,^[2][3][4] 17th-century artists' borrowings from Italian schizzo (“sketch, drawing; a splash, squirt”),^[3][2] from schizzare, to splash, squirt, of uncertain, probably imitative origin.^[2][5][3] It is commonly traced to a Latin *schedius, from Greek σχέδιος (skhédios, “done off-hand, extempore”).^[3][4][6] French esquisse and Spanish esquicio are also from the Italian.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

A rough drawing as the basis for a finished picture: 1668, as scetch.^[2][7][3]

Semantic evolution

A brief account or description giving the main points is from 1668 in the OED and 1715 in Barnhart.^[7][2] A short, slightly constructed play or performance, usually comic, is from 1789,^[3][7] and in music a short piece of a single movement from about 1840.^[3][7] The verb, to give the main facts briefly, is from the 1690s, in Dryden,^[3][2] and to draw in outline from 1725.^[3] Sketch-book is from 1820,^[2][3] and sketchy, giving only an outline, from 1805.^[2] In old slang a hot sketch was an amusing, ridiculous person (1909).^[3]

Timeline

• 1668 – a rough drawing.^[2]
• 1694 – to sketch (verb).^[2]
• 1789 – a short comic play.^[3]
• 1805 – sketchy.^[2]
• 1820 – sketch-book.^[2]
• c. 1840 – a short piano piece.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A quick or rough drawing or painting, often a study for a later work.
2. A brief, general account; an outline.
3. A short, often comic scene in a revue; a skit.
4. A short literary composition or piece of music.

Verb

1. To make a sketch of something.
2. To describe briefly; to outline.

Word family

• sketcher
• sketchingly
• sketchlike
• resketch
• sketchable
• unsketched
• sketchbook
• sketchy

Related words

• schedule
• skit

Usage notes

In Scots, sketch is also a variant of skate.^[8][9]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)