graffiti

See also: Graffiti

English

Graffiti on the Berlin Wall, November 1989

Alternative forms

• graffito

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian graffiti.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɡɹəˈfiːti/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɡɹəˈfiti/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːti

Noun

graffiti (usually uncountable, plural graffiti)

1. (chiefly uncountable) Drawings or words drawn on a surface in a public place, usually made without authorization.

   The underpass is a popular place for graffiti artists.

   The city council spends thousands of pounds removing graffiti from public buildings.

2. (archaeology, countable) Informal inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., as opposed to official inscriptions.

Usage notes

• There is no universal singular form to denote a single piece of graffiti. In archaeology, and occasionally elsewhere, graffito is used, reflecting the Italian singular. There is some non-standard usage of graffitus, as though it were Latin (compare focus, plural foci); graffitum, also Latin sounding (though this would technically form the plural *graffita; cf. millennium, plural millennia); and graffiti itself, unmodified.

Synonyms

• (archaeology): cave painting; epigraphy

Translations

drawings on a surface

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 塗鴉 (zh), 涂鸦 (zh) (túyā)

• Danish: graffiti (da) c
• Dutch: graffiti (nl)
• Esperanto: murskribaĉo
• Finnish: graffiti (fi), töhrintä
• Galician: graffiti m pl
• German: Graffito (de) m or n, Graffiti (de) m pl or n pl
• Icelandic: veggjakrot n
• Irish: graifítí m
• Italian: graffitismo (it) m
• Japanese: 落書き (ja) (らくがき, rakugaki), グラフィティ (gurafiti)

• Korean: 그라피토 (geurapito)
• Macedonian: графи́ти m pl (grafíti)
• Maori: karawhiti
• Marathi: ग्राफिटी f (grāphiṭī)
• Polish: graffiti (pl) m
• Portuguese: grafite (pt) m, pichação (pt), grafito m, grafíti m
• Russian: граффи́ти (ru) n (graffíti)
• Serbo-Croatian: графити m pl, grafiti (sh) m pl
• Slovak: grafit m, grafity m pl
• Spanish: grafiti (es)
• Swedish: graffiti (sv) c, klotter (sv) n
• Turkish: grafiti (tr)

See also

• sgraffito

Verb

graffiti (third-person singular simple present graffitis, present participle graffitiing, simple past and past participle graffitied)

1. (transitive) To mark a surface with such images.

Translations

create graffiti

• Chinese: 漆鴉 (qīyā)
• Finnish: tehdä graffiti; töhriä (fi)

• Portuguese: pichar (pt), grafitar
• Spanish: grafitar
• Turkish: grafiti yapmak

See also

• graffiti art
• graffiti artist
• hip-hop
• street art
• tagging

Further reading

• graffiti on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• graffiti on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons

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Danish

Etymology

From Italian graffiti, plural of graffito

Noun

graffiti c (singular definite graffitien, plural indefinite graffiti)

1. graffiti

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Dutch

Etymology

From Italian graffiti, plural of graffito

Noun

graffiti m (plural graffiti or graffiti's)

1. graffiti

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Finnish

Noun

graffiti

1. graffiti

Declension

Inflection of graffiti (Kotus type 5/risti, no gradation)
nominative		graffiti	graffitit
genitive		graffitin	graffitien
partitive		graffitia	graffiteja
illative		graffitiin	graffiteihin
		singular	plural
nominative		graffiti	graffitit
accusative	nom.	graffiti	graffitit
	gen.	graffitin
genitive		graffitin	graffitien
partitive		graffitia	graffiteja
inessive		graffitissa	graffiteissa
elative		graffitista	graffiteista
illative		graffitiin	graffiteihin
adessive		graffitilla	graffiteilla
ablative		graffitilta	graffiteilta
allative		graffitille	graffiteille
essive		graffitina	graffiteina
translative		graffitiksi	graffiteiksi
instructive		—	graffitein
abessive		graffititta	graffiteitta
comitative		—	graffiteineen

Possessive forms of graffiti (type risti)
possessor	singular	plural
1st person	graffitini	graffitimme
2nd person	graffitisi	graffitinne
3rd person	graffitinsa

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French

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

graffiti m (uncountable)

1. graffiti

graffiti m (plural graffitis)

1. graffito

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Italian

Noun

graffiti m pl

1. plural of graffito

Verb

graffiti m

1. plural of graffito

Anagrams

• griffati

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Italian graffiti, plural of graffito

Pronunciation

Audio (dialect: Oslo)

(file)

Noun

graffiti m (definite singular graffitien, indefinite plural graffitier, definite plural graffitiene)

1. graffiti

References

• “graffiti” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Italian graffiti, plural of graffito

Noun

graffiti m (definite singular graffitien, indefinite plural graffitiar, definite plural graffitiane)

1. graffiti

References

• “graffiti” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

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Polish

Etymology

From English graffiti, from Italian graffiti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡrafˈfʲi.ti/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: gra‧ffi‧ti
• Rhymes: -iti

Noun

graffiti n (indeclinable)

1. graffiti (drawings on a surface)
2. (archaeology) graffiti (informal inscriptions, figure drawings, etc., as opposed to official inscriptions)

Related terms

• (nouns) grafficiarz, graffitoman

Further reading

• graffiti in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• graffiti in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Spanish

Etymology

From Italian graffiti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɾaˈfiti/, [ɡɾaˈfi.t̪i]

Noun

graffiti m (plural graffitis)

1. graffiti

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Swedish

Noun

graffiti c

1. graffiti; a form of vandalism involving painted text or images in public places
2. graffiti; any graffiti art produced as a result of that act of vandalism

Declension

Declension of graffiti
	Uncountable
	Indefinite	Definite
Nominative	graffiti	graffitin	—	—
Genitive	graffitis	graffitins	—	—