car·i·ca·ture
Pronunciation: 'ker-i-k&-"chur, -"ch&r, -"tyur, -"tur, -'ka-ri-
Function: noun
Etymology: Italian caricatura, literally, act of loading, from caricare to load, from Late Latin carricare
1 : exaggeration by means of often ludicrous distortion of parts or characteristics
2 : a representation especially in literature or art that has the qualities of caricature
3 : a distortion so gross as to seem like caricature
The history of how this word came from meaning "act of loading" to it's present day meaning would be interesting (to me).
Caricature
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
The Online Etymology Dictionary shows the following:
A link there leads us to a particularly Gaulling entry at Dictionary.com:caricature
1748, from Fr. caricature, from It. caricatura "satirical picture," lit. "an overloading," from caricare "to load, exaggerate," from V.L. carricare (see charge). The It. form had been used in Eng. from c.1682.
Word History: The history of the word caricature takes us back through the centuries to a time when the Romans occupied Gaul, offering the blessings of civilization to the Gauls but also borrowing from them as well. One such borrowing, the Gaulish word *karros, meaning "a wagon or cart," became Latin carrus, "a Gallic type of wagon." This Latin word has continued to roll through the English language, giving us car, career, cargo, carry, and charge, among others. Caricature, another offspring of carrus, came to us via French from Italian, in which caricatura, the source of the French word, was derived from Italian caricare, "to load, burden, or exaggerate." Caricare in turn came from Late Latin carricāre, "to load," derived from the Romans' Gaulish borrowing carrus.
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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- Great Grand Panjandrum
- Posts: 2578
- Joined: Tue Feb 15, 2005 3:56 pm
- Location: Crownsville, MD
... as opposed to a load pulled by a bull ...
Wait a minute! Whose post were you talking about?
Wait a minute! Whose post were you talking about?
Regards//Larry
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
"To preserve liberty, it is essential that the whole body of the people always possess arms, and be taught alike, especially when young, how to use them."
-- Attributed to Richard Henry Lee
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