gothic

/ˈɡɒθ.ɪk/·adjective·1611 (architectural sense)·Established

Origin

Named after the Goths as a Renaissance insult for 'barbarous' medieval architecture — though the Goths built none of it.‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‌ The word has since labelled a literary genre, a music scene, and a fashion subculture.

Definition

Relating to the Goths or their language; relating to the medieval architectural style with pointed a‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‌rches; or relating to a genre of fiction characterised by mystery, horror, and the supernatural.

Did you know?

The Goths never built a Gothic cathedral. Renaissance Italians used 'Gothic' as an insult for medieval northern architecture they considered barbarically crude — the implication being 'the sort of thing barbarians would build.' The actual Goths were long extinct by the time the great cathedrals were constructed. Three centuries later, the word was repurposed again for horror fiction, and again for a music subculture — each time moving further from its origin.

Etymology

Latin17th centurywell-attested

From Late Latin 'Gothicus,' relating to the 'Gothi' (Goths), the East Germanic people who sacked Rome in 410 CE. Renaissance Italian writers used 'gotico' as a term of abuse for medieval architecture they considered barbarous — the pointed arches and flying buttresses of northern European cathedrals were 'Gothic' because they were, to Italian eyes, as crude as the barbarians who destroyed Rome. The Goths had nothing to do with the architecture, but the label stuck. In the 18th century, Horace Walpole's novel 'The Castle of Otranto' (1764) launched 'Gothic' as a literary genre. By the 1980s, 'goth' described a music and fashion subculture. Key roots: Gothi (Latin: "the Goths").

Ancient Roots

Gothi (Latin: “the Goths”)

This Word in Other Languages

gothique(French)gótico(Spanish)gotisch(German)gotico(Italian)

Gothic traces back to Latin Gothi, meaning "the Goths". Across languages it shares form or sense with French gothique, Spanish gótico, German gotisch and Italian gotico, evidence of a shared etymological family.

Background

The Etymology of Gothic

'Gothic' is a word built on a misattribution.‌‍‍‍‌‍‍‍‌‍‌‍‍‍‌‌‍‌‌‌‍‌‌‍‌‍‍‌‍‌‍‌ Renaissance Italian architects despised the pointed-arch style of northern medieval cathedrals and labelled it 'gotico' — barbarous, like the Goths who had sacked Rome a thousand years earlier. The Goths had built nothing of the sort; the great cathedrals were constructed by French and English masons centuries after the Gothic peoples vanished. Nevertheless, the name stuck and eventually lost its pejorative edge. In 1764, Horace Walpole subtitled his novel 'The Castle of Otranto' a 'Gothic Story,' launching a literary genre of supernatural horror set in medieval ruins. By the 1980s, 'goth' had migrated again — to a music and fashion subculture. Few words have been so productively misapplied.

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