rococo

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʁɔ.kɔ.ko/^[1]

Forms

rococo (plural rococos)^[1] Also written roccoco (Borel, 1833).^[2]

Etymology

It is a playful formation of the artists' studios on rocaille, the style of rockwork ornament, with the syllable “-co” doubled.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} Like other terms of Old Regime art such as “perruque” and “trumeau”, it was coined to mock what was old-fashioned.^[3] Wiktionary attributes it to a pupil of David and mentions a blend with Portuguese barroco.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record (1825) is an adjective meaning “outdated”: the Romantics, a critic complains, call Aristotle a ganache and Boileau rococo.^[8][2][3]

Semantic evolution

Within a few years the word named the ornate 18th-century style itself, overloaded with scrolls and garlands (1828–1829, Stendhal).^[2][3][5] In art history it lost its pejorative tone, as baroque did, in part under German influence, where Rokoko names the 18th-century style as distinct from Barock.^[3][9]

In everyday French rococo has stayed pejorative: affectedly elaborate in art or writing (1846, Baudelaire), and old-fashioned and slightly ridiculous (1834).^[3][10][5] The 19th century also made joking derivatives such as rococoterie (1839), now gone.^[3]

Timeline

• 1825 – “Outdated”, of Boileau.^[8][2]
• 1828–1829 – The 18th-century ornamental style (Stendhal).^[2][5]
• 1834 – “Old-fashioned” (Boiste).^[2][3]
• 1846 – Affected in art or writing (Baudelaire).^[3][5]
• 1878 – First recorded by the Académie.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The Rococo, the ornate 18th-century style of decoration and art, close to rocaille.^[10][9]

Adjective

1. Rococo, in that style: pendules rococo.^[10]
2. (pejorative) Old-fashioned and ridiculous; outdated.^[10][9]

Related words

• rocaille
• roche
• baroque
• English rococo

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 10, 437a
8. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ a b c Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
10. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert