grotesque English · revision 2443

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɹəʊˈtɛsk/ ''(UK)''; /ɡɹoʊˈtɛsk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|crotesque]],^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) [[der|it|grottesca]], short for ''pittura grottesca'' “cave painting”,^(MW Collegiate)^(AHD)^(RHWU) feminine of ''grottesco'' “of a cave”, from [[it|grotta|t=cave]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ As a noun (1561), a style of decorative painting or sculpture combining fantastic human and animal forms with foliage.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word is said to have been first used of the fanciful wall paintings found in excavated Roman ruins, which the OED calls “intrinsically plausible”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995) The adjective, first of art in this style (1603), widened to any bizarre or fantastic form.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995) After the mid-18th century the sense turned pejorative, “clownishly absurd, uncouth”.^(Etymonline) In printing, ''grotesque'' was the British name for a sans-serif letter from 1875.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1561 – noun, a style of decorative art.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1603 – adjective, in the grotesque style.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1643 – a work of art in this style.^(OED 1989)

+ * mid-18th century – clownishly absurd, uncouth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1864 – a clown or buffoon.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1875 – a sans-serif typeface.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Distorted or incongruous in a ludicrous or ugly way.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Bizarre or outlandish.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # In or relating to the grotesque style in art.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A style of art in which human, animal and plant forms are fancifully intertwined; a work in this style.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something grotesque.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(printing)'' A sans-serif typeface.^(MW Collegiate)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[grotesquely]]

+ * [[grotesqueness]]

+ * [[grotesquery]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[grotto]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}