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Origin and history of antic

antic(n.)

1520s, antick, antyke, later antique (with accent on the first syllable), "grotesque or comical gesture," from Italian antico "antique," from Latin antiquus "old, ancient; old-fashioned" (see antique (adj.)). In art, "fantastical figures, incongruously combined" (1540s).

Originally (like grotesque) a 16c. Italian word referring to the strange and fantastic representations on ancient murals unearthed around Rome (especially the Baths of Titus, rediscovered 16c.); later extended to "any bizarre thing or behavior," in which sense it first arrived in English. As an adjective in English from 1580s, "grotesque, bizarre." In 17c. the spelling antique was restricted to the original sense of that word.

Anticke worke, A worke in painting or carving of divers shapes of Beasts, Birds, Flowers, &c. unperfectly mixt, and made one of another. [Cockeram, English Dictionarie, 1623]

also from 1520s

Entries linking to antic

antique(adj.)

1530s, "aged, venerable;" 1540s, "having existed in ancient times," from French antique "old" (14c.), from Latin antiquus (later anticus) "ancient, former, of olden times; old, long in existence, aged; venerable; old-fashioned," from PIE *anti- "before" (from root *ant- "front, forehead," with derivatives meaning "in front of, before") + *okw- "to see."

Originally pronounced in English like its doublet antic, but French pronunciation and spelling were adopted in English from c. 1700. The meaning "not modern" is from 1640s. Related: Antiqueness.

grotesque(adj.)

"wildly formed, of irregular proportions, boldly odd," c. 1600s, originally a noun (1560s), from French crotesque (16c., Modern French grotesque), from Italian grottesco, literally "of a cave," from grotta (see grotto). The explanation that the word first was used of paintings found on the walls of Roman ruins revealed by excavation (Italian pittura grottesca) is "intrinsically plausible," according to OED. Originally merely fanciful and fantastic, the sense became pejorative, "clownishly absurd, uncouth," after mid-18c. As the British name for a style of square-cut, sans-serif letter, from 1875. Related: Grotesquely; grotesqueness.

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Trends of antic

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

More to explore

joke
1660s, joque, "a jest, something done to excite laughter," from Latin iocus "joke, jest, sport, pastime" (source also of French jeu, Spanish juego, Portuguese jogo, Italian gioco), from Proto-Italic *joko-, from PIE *iok-o- "word, utterance," from root *yek- (1) "to speak" (cogna
prank
"a ludicrous trick" [Johnson], played sometimes in malice but more often in sport, 1520s, a word of uncertain origin, perhaps related to the obsolete verb prank "act ostentatiously, show off" (mid-15c.), also "to decorate, adorn in a showy manner" (1540s), which is related to Mid
trick
early 15c., "a cheat, a mean ruse," from Old North French trique "trick, deceit, treachery, cheating," from trikier "to deceive, to cheat," variant of Old French trichier "to cheat, trick, deceive," of uncertain origin, probably from Vulgar Latin *triccare, from Latin tricari "be
put-on
"ruse, deception," 1937, from earlier adjectival meaning "assumed, feigned" (1620s), a figurative extension of the verbal phrase on the notion of putting on costumes or disguises. To put on (v.), of clothes, garments, etc., is by early 15c.; see from put (v.) + on (adv.). Hence "
jest
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diversion
early 15c., diversioun, "process of diverting," from Medieval Latin diversionem (nominative diversio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin divertere (see divert). Meaning "act of turning aside from a course of action" is from c. 1600; that of "act of diverting (some
fantastic
late 14c., "existing only in imagination, produced by (mental) fantasy," from Old French fantastique (14c.), from Medieval Latin fantasticus, from Late Latin phantasticus "imaginary," from Greek phantastikos "able to imagine," from phantazein "make visible" (middle voice phantaze
caper
"to leap, skip, prance," 1580s, apparently short for obsolete capriole "to leap, skip," which is probably from Italian capriolare "jump in the air" (see cab). Related: Capered; capering....type of prickly Mediterranean bush, also in reference to the plant's edible buds, late 14c.
around
c. 1300, "in circumference, in a circle, on every side," from phrase on round; see a- (1) + round (adj.). It was rare before 1600. In the sense of "here and there with no fixed direction" it is attested from 1776 in American English (British English prefers about). As a prepositi

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