rococo

See also: rococó and rococò

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French rococo.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -əʊkəʊ

Noun

rococo (uncountable)

1. A style of baroque architecture and decorative art, from 18th-century France, having elaborate ornamentation.

Translations

style of baroque architecture etc.

• Catalan: rococó m
• Czech: rokoko (cs) n
• Danish: rokoko c
• German: Rokoko (de) n
• Hungarian: rokokó (hu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rokokko m

  Nynorsk: rokokko m

• Portuguese: rococó (pt) m
• Russian: рококо́ (ru) n (rokokó)
• Slovene: rokoko m
• Swedish: rokoko (sv) c
• Turkish: rokoko (tr)

Adjective

rococo (comparative more rococo, superlative most rococo)

1. Of or relating to the rococo style.
2. Over-elaborate or complicated; opulent.
3. Old-fashioned.

Translations

in the rococo style

• Danish: rokoko-
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: rokokko-

  Nynorsk: rokokko-

• Slovene: rokokojski
• Swedish: rokoko-

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French

A rococo cabinet, designed in 1774 by Jean-Joseph Lemaire for the future King Louis XVI.

Etymology

Undoubtedly, a word from rocaille and barroco, to denote pejoratively a "rock" style, then gone out-of-fashion; invented in 1797 by Pierre-Maurice Quays, pupil of Jacques-Louis David and firebrand of an austere neoclassical style.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁɔ.kɔ.ko/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

rococo (plural rococos)

1. rococo (architectural style, all senses)
2. (abstract, derogatory) Relating to old traditions, which may be seen as foolishly outdated; archaic, old-fashioned, obsolete, backwards.

Further reading

• “rococo” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).