baroque

See also: Baroque

English

Etymology

Via French baroque (which originally meant a pearl of irregular shape), from Portuguese barroco (“irregular pearl”); related to Spanish barrueco and Italian barocco, of uncertain ultimate origin, but possibly from Latin verrūca (“wart”). It has been suggested that the term derives from Baroco, a technical term from scholastic logic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bæˈɹɒk/

Rhymes: -ɒk

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): /bəˈɹoʊk/

Rhymes: -əʊk

Adjective

baroque (comparative baroquer, superlative baroquest)

1. Ornate, intricate, decorated, laden with detail.
2. Complex and beautiful, despite an outward irregularity.
3. Chiseled from stone, or shaped from wood, in a garish, crooked, twisted, or slanted sort of way, grotesque.
4. Embellished with figures and forms such that every level of relief gives way to more details and contrasts.
5. Characteristic of Western art music of about the same period.
6. (figuratively) Notably complicated; overly and needlessly complicated; (usually, especially) in a bad way, not a good or neutral way.

   grotesquely baroque bureaucratic hassles

   baroque bookkeeping in pursuit of tax dodges

Derived terms

• baroquely
• baroqueness
• baroque organ
• baroque pearl
• baroque piety
• baroque pitch
• baroque pop
• earthquake baroque
• neo-baroque
• unbaroque

 

Translations

laden with detail

• Catalan: barroc
• Danish: barok
• Finnish: koristeellinen, barokkinen
• Italian: barocco (it)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: barokk (no)

  Nynorsk: barokk

• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: barroco (pt)
• Slovene: baročen (sl)

complex and beautiful

• Finnish: barokkinen
• Portuguese: barroco (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Slovene: baročen (sl)

grotesque

• Finnish: groteski (fi), barokkinen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

embellished

• Finnish: barokkinen
• Polish: barokowy (pl)
• Portuguese: barroco (pt)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Anagrams

• Baquero

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French

Etymology

Middle French baroque, originally denoting a pearl of irregular shape, from Italian barocco, Spanish barrueco, or Portuguese barroco, all possibly from Latin verrūca (“wart”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ba.ʁɔk/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

baroque (plural baroques)

1. baroque (all senses)

Descendants

• → English: baroque
• → Polish: barok
• → Spanish: barroco

Further reading

• “baroque”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.