Gothic

[ goth-ik ]

adjective

1. noting or pertaining to a style of architecture, originating in France in the middle of the 12th century and existing in the western half of Europe through the middle of the 16th century, characterized by the use of the pointed arch and the ribbed vault, by the use of fine woodwork and stonework, by a progressive lightening of structure, and by the use of such features as flying buttresses, ornamental gables, crockets, and foils.
2. pertaining to or designating the style of painting, sculpture, etc., produced between the 13th and 15th centuries, especially in northern Europe, characterized by a tendency toward realism and interest in detail.
3. of or relating to Goths or their language.
4. of or relating to the music, especially of northern Europe, of the period roughly from 1200 to 1450, including that of the Ars Antiqua, Ars Nova, and the Burgundian school.
5. pertaining to the Middle Ages; medieval.
6. (sometimes lowercase) noting or pertaining to a style of literature characterized by a gloomy setting, grotesque, mysterious, or violent events, and an atmosphere of degeneration and decay:

   19th-century Gothic novels.

7. (often lowercase) being of a genre of contemporary fiction typically relating the experiences of an often ingenuous heroine imperiled, as at an old mansion, where she typically becomes involved with a stern or mysterious but attractive man.
8. of or relating to the goth subculture or musical scene.
9. noting or pertaining to the alphabetic script introduced for the writing of Gothic by Ulfilas and derived by him from Greek uncials with the addition of some Latin and some invented letters.
10. (usually lowercase) barbarous or crude.

noun

1. the arts and crafts of the Gothic period.
2. the extinct Germanic language of the Goths, preserved especially in the 4th-century translation by Ulfilas of the Bible. : Goth, Goth.
3. (often lowercase) a story, play, film, or other work in the gothic style.
4. (sometimes lowercase) British. black letter.
5. (sometimes lowercase) a square-cut printing type without serifs or hairlines.

Gothic

/ ˈɡɒθɪk /

adjective

1. See Gothic Revival
   denoting, relating to, or resembling the style of architecture that was used in W Europe from the 12th to the 16th centuries, characterized by the lancet arch, the ribbed vault, and the flying buttress See also Gothic Revival
2. of or relating to the style of sculpture, painting, or other arts as practised in W Europe from the 12th to the 16th centuries
3. sometimes not capital of or relating to a literary style characterized by gloom, the grotesque, and the supernatural, popular esp in the late 18th century When used of modern literature, films, etc, sometimes speltGothick
4. of, relating to, or characteristic of the Goths or their language
5. sometimes not capital primitive and barbarous in style, behaviour, etc
6. of or relating to the Middle Ages
7. See Goth
   another word for Goth

noun

1. Gothic architecture or art
2. See East Germanic
   the extinct language of the ancient Goths, known mainly from fragments of a translation of the Bible made in the 4th century by Bishop Wulfila See also East Germanic
3. Also called (esp Brit)black letter the family of heavy script typefaces
4. See Goth
   another word for Goth

Gothic

1. In European architecture, the dominant style during the late Middle Ages , characterized by slender towers, pointed arch es, soaring ceilings, and flying buttress es. Many great cathedrals (see also cathedral ), including Chartres and Notre Dame de Paris , were built in this style.

Derived Forms

• ˈGothically, adverb

Other Words From

• Gothi·cal·ly adverb
• Gothic·ness Goth·ic·i·ty [go-, this, -i-tee], noun
• non-Gothic adjective
• post-Gothic adjective
• pre-Gothic adjective noun
• pseudo-Gothic adjective
• un·Gothic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Gothic¹

First recorded in 1605–15; from Late Latin Gothicus “of, pertaining to the Goths”; Goth, -ic

Example Sentences

Theoderic, however, was a Gothic king and he had taken power from Odoacer.

From Time

These aspects of Roman life continued after the Gothic ruler Theoderic overthrew Odoacer in 493.

From Time

Sharp, stormy and rife with new-age Gothic romance, The Wife Upstairs is not quite a retelling, though it shows off customary parallels with Charlotte Brontë’s story.

From Ozy

They also picnicked by the little Gothic ruin built by Queen Victoria.

From Time

It has a lot of those Gothic elements you see in Turn of the Screw, but it also did something different, something that I had never seen.

From Time

Northanger Abbey, after all, parodies the tropes and excesses of sentimental Gothic novels.

From The Daily Beast

Visitors are greeted by a looming gothic gate, the kind used to signify that important residents lie behind its spires.

From The Daily Beast

Tonally, however, it is very peculiar: It is undeniably Southern Gothic, but it has its own brand of off-beat humor.

From The Daily Beast

I encountered The Mysteries of Udolpho when I took a Gothic novel course as a student at St. Andrews in Scotland.

From The Daily Beast

One of the coolest things about the class was that we were discussing the Gothic novel in real Gothic buildings.

From The Daily Beast

Below the great gothic windows spreads the awning of a café, which takes up all the ground floor.

From Project Gutenberg

It was an antique, half-Gothic, half-Saracenic looking edifice, which they now approached.

From Project Gutenberg

It is built in the Gothic style, with a fine large tower rising above half-a-dozen smaller ones.

From Project Gutenberg

This and the following monument are partly let into the wall, and are surmounted by beautiful Gothic canopies.

From Project Gutenberg

The town possesses some handsome schools and private buildings, and a Christian church, in pure Gothic style.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• eerie
• grotesque