baroque English · revision 934

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bəˈɹɒk/, /bəˈɹəʊk/ ''(UK)''; /bəˈɹoʊk/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|baroque|t=irregular]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) from [[pt|barroco|t=irregularly shaped pearl]],^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) of uncertain origin,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1995)^(RHWU) perhaps related to Spanish ''berrueco'' “granite crag; irregular pearl” and to Latin ''verrūca'' “wart”.^(Etymonline)^(RHWU) Random House suggests conflation with the Medieval Latin ''baroco'', a name for a kind of syllogism,^(RHWU) and Klein suggests a link with the painter Federico Barocci.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Irregularly shaped, whimsical, grotesque; at first a jeweller's term (1765).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word described pearls of uneven shape before it was applied to a style of art and architecture that later critics derided as clumsy and extravagantly ornamented.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) It came to name the style of European art and architecture from the late 16th to the 18th century, marked by bold, curving forms, rich ornament and dramatic effect,^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) and the style of music of about 1600–1750.^(AHD)^(RHWU) As a noun it dates from 1877–79.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989) Fowler distinguished baroque, marked by grandeur and weight, from [[rococo]], marked by grace and lightness.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1765 – irregular, grotesque; of a style of decoration.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1877 – noun, the baroque style or period.^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1879 – noun, grotesque ornamentation.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' Of a style of art and architecture in Europe from the late 16th to the 18th century, marked by bold curving forms, elaborate ornament and dramatic effect.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(often capitalized)'' Of a style of music of about 1600 to 1750, marked by strict forms and elaborate ornamentation.^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Extravagantly ornate, complex or bizarre; flamboyant.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of a pearl, irregularly shaped.^(MW Collegiate)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The baroque style or period in art, architecture or music.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[baroquely]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[rococo]]

+ * [[verruca]]

+ * [[ornate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}