goth
UK[ɡɒθ]US[ɡɑːθ]
n
A member of a Germanic people who invaded the Roman Empire in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD.
n
A style of rock music with dark, melancholic themes and associated fashion, or a person who is part of this subculture.
Etymology
The word 'Goth' originates from the Latin 'Gothi', the name used by the Romans for a confederation of East Germanic tribes. The Latin term likely came from the tribe's own name for themselves, reconstructed in Proto-Germanic as Gutô. The modern subcultural meaning emerged in the 1980s, drawing a direct, evocative parallel between the perceived dark, barbaric energy of the ancient tribe and the aesthetic of the post-punk music scene. Thus, the term journeyed from an ethnic label to a powerful stylistic identifier, carrying connotations of the outsider and the romanticized past.
Analysis
The word is a simplex loanword from Latin. It does not contain separable morphemes in its modern English form.
Examples
The Visigoths, a branch of the Goths, sacked Rome in 410 AD.
She listened to goth bands like The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.
The club was filled with people dressed in goth fashion, wearing black lace and velvet.