classicism
[klas-uh-siz-uh m]
- the principles or styles characteristic of the literature and art of ancient Greece and Rome.
- adherence to such principles.
- the classical style in literature and art, or adherence to its principles (contrasted with romanticism).Compare classical(def 7).
- a Greek or Latin idiom or form, especially one used in some other language.
- classical scholarship or learning.
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Also clas·si·cal·ism [klas-i-kuh-liz-uh m] /ˈklæs ɪ kəˌlɪz əm/.
Origin of classicism
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
grandeurmajestysymmetrypuritypolishclarityseverityproportionelegancerhythmobjectivitysimplicityfinishsobrietyformalityrefinementlucidityclassdignityproprietyExamples from the Web for classicism
Historical Examples
It begins with some observations on Romanticism and Classicism.
War Letters of a Public-School BoyPaul Jones.
That Christian expression and classicism were incompatible, he never believed.
Erasmus and the Age of ReformationJohan Huizinga
The spirit of classicism was in the air in the days of Wedgwood.
Chats on Old EarthenwareArthur Hayden
He received the highest eulogy known to the classicism of the time.
The Marquis D'Argenson: A Study in CriticismArthur Ogle
The revolt of the Romanticists against Classicism in literature and art.
The History of Modern Painting, Volume 1 (of 4)Richard Muther
classicism
classicalism (ˈklæsɪkəˌlɪzəm)
- a style based on the study of Greek and Roman models, characterized by emotional restraint and regularity of form, associated esp with the 18th century in Europe; the antithesis of romanticismCompare neoclassicism
- knowledge or study of the culture of ancient Greece and Rome
- a Greek or Latin form or expression
- an expression in a modern language, such as English, that is modelled on a Greek or Latin form
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for classicism
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
classicism
An approach to aesthetics that favors restraint, rationality, and the use of strict forms in literature, painting, architecture, and other arts. It flourished in ancient Greece and Rome, and throughout Europe in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Classicists often derived their models from the ancient Greeks and Romans.
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Note
Classicism is sometimes considered the opposite of romanticism.
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.