Etymologically
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caricature

Etymology and origin of the French word caricature

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1740, d'Argenson
Borrowed from
Italian caricatura
Ultimate origin
Late Latin (carricō)
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
French caricature
English caricature

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ka.ʁi.ka.tyʁ/[1]

Forms

caricature f (plural caricatures)[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Italian caricatura (“a loading; a caricature”),[2][3][4][5][1][6] derived with the suffix “-ura” from the past participle of caricare (“to load; to exaggerate”), which in the 17th century already meant a portrait made ridiculous by exaggerated features.[2][3] “Caricare” comes from Late Latin carricō (“to load a cart”), like French charger.[7][8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

D'Argenson's Mémoires (1740) use it as a painting term, a grotesque likeness in drawing or paint.[2][3][4]

Semantic evolution

Before 1784 Diderot extended it to a distorted, exaggerated picture of reality in a literary work, and then to any ridiculous distortion of a thing.[2][3] By metonymy (1808, Michelet 1822) a caricature is a person who is ugly or ridiculously dressed.[3][2]

The first half of the 19th century, which gave caricaturer (1801), caricaturiste (1803) and caricatural (1842), was the great age of political caricature, with Daumier and Gavarni; in the 20th century the humorous drawing largely took its place.[3][4]

Timeline

  • 17th century – Italian caricatura, a ridiculous portrait.[2][3]
  • 1740 – A grotesque likeness (d'Argenson).[2][3]
  • 1762 – First recorded by the Académie.[2]
  • before 1784 – A distorted image of reality in literature (Diderot).[2][3]
  • 1801 – Caricaturer.[3][4]
  • 1803 – Caricaturiste.[3]
  • 1808 – A ridiculous-looking person.[3]
  • 1842 – Caricatural.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A caricature, a drawing that exaggerates the features of a person for comic or satirical effect.[9][10]
  2. A comic or satirical description that exaggerates certain traits.[9][7]
  3. (figurative) A grotesque distortion of reality: une caricature de justice.[7][8]
  4. A ridiculously dressed or ugly person.[8][3]

Word family

  • caricaturiste

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 420b
  7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)

Borrowed into

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Caricature.” Etymologically, 17 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/caricature. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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