rococo
UK[rəˈkəʊkəʊ]US[rəˈkoʊkoʊ]
adj
Relating to a very ornate and elaborate style of decoration, architecture, and art that developed in 18th-century France, characterized by scrolls, curves, shells, and intricate detail.
n
The rococo style or period.
Etymology
The term 'rococo' originates from the French 'rocaille', a style of interior decoration using pebbles, shells, and cement to simulate grottos and fountains. This word derives from 'roc', meaning 'rock' in French, tracing back to Vulgar Latin 'rocca'. In the early 18th century, the playful, asymmetrical, and shell-laden style of the Régence and Louis XV periods was mockingly dubbed 'rocaille' or its fanciful variant 'rococo' by later Neoclassical critics, who considered it frivolous. The term was thus born from critique, evolving from a literal description of decorative rockwork to define an entire artistic era characterized by its intricate, lighthearted, and curvilinear aesthetics.
Analysis
The word is a loanword from French, which itself is an alteration of the French word "rocaille" (meaning rockwork or shellwork). It functions as a single, unanalyzable morpheme in English.
Examples
The ballroom was decorated in an extravagantly rococo style, with gilded scrolls and cherubs covering every surface.
The composer's later works moved away from baroque complexity toward a lighter, more rococo elegance.
Some critics dismissed the novel's prose as overly ornate and rococo.