Gothic

adj.

1. 1. Of or relating to the Goths or their language.
   2. Germanic; Teutonic.
2. Of or relating to the Middle Ages; medieval.
3. 1. Of or relating to an architectural style prevalent in western Europe from the 12th through the 15th century and characterized by pointed arches, rib vaulting, and a developing emphasis on verticality and the impression of height.
   2. Of or relating to an architectural style derived from medieval Gothic.
4. Of or relating to painting, sculpture, or other art forms prevalent in northern Europe from the 12th through the 15th century.
5. often gothic Of or relating to a style of fiction that emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.
6. gothic Barbarous; crude.

n.

1. The extinct East Germanic language of the Goths.
2. Gothic art or architecture.
3. often gothic Printing.
   1. See black letter.
   2. See sans serif.
4. A novel in a style emphasizing the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate.

Gothically Goth'i·cal·ly adv.

WORD HISTORY   The combination Gothic romance represents a union of two of the major influences in the development of European culture, the Roman Empire and the Germanic tribes that invaded it. The Roman origins of romance must be sought in the etymology of that word, but we can see clearly that Gothic is related to the name Goth used for one of those invading Germanic tribes. The word Gothic, first recorded in 1611 in a reference to the language of the Goths, was extended in sense in several ways, meaning "Germanic," "medieval, not classical," "barbarous," and also an architectural style that was not Greek or Roman. Horace Walpole applied the word Gothic to his novel The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story (1765) in the sense "medieval, not classical." From this novel filled with scenes of terror and gloom in a medieval setting descended a literary genre still popular today; from its subtitle descended the name for it.

Group of typefaces where the letters are without serifs (cross strokes at the ends of the main strokes) and are relatively uniform in weight. There are several different styles of gothic faces, which are also sometimes called sans serif ("without serif") or block letter. Gothic typography should not be confused with faces referred to as Old English or text, since these fall into the classification of black letter typography.

Architectural style, properly called Pointed, that evolved in Europe (starting with France) from the late C12 until C16, even lingering until C17 and C18 in some places (e.g. Oxford and certain provincial areas). As its correct name suggests, it is the architecture of the pointed arch, pointed rib-vaults, piers with clusters of shafts, deep buttresses (some of the flying type), window-tracery, pinnacles, spires, battlements, and a soaring verticality. While Ancient Egyptian and Greek architecture is columnar and trabeated, Gothic is arcuated, giving an impression of dynamic thrust and counter-thrust. Certain elements of Gothic church architecture, such as the triforium, clerestorey, and Orders found in doorways, had developed in Romanesque architecture. Pointed rib-vaults had been used in Burgundy and Durham, while half-arches or half-barrel-vaults used as buttresses were exploited by English and French Romanesque builders. Fully developed Gothic, however, was not a matter of eclectic motifs being gathered together: it was a remarkably coherent style of logical arcuated forms in which forces were expressed and resisted, and non-structural walls were dissolved into huge areas of glazed window.

First Pointed (Early English) Gothic was used from the end of C12 to the end of C13, though most of its characteristics were present in the lower part of the chevet of the Abbey Church of St-Denis, near Paris (c.1135–44). Windows were first of all lancets, but later contained elementary tracery of the plate type (see tracery), then got larger, divided into lights by means of Geometrical bar-tracery. Once First Pointed evolved with Geometrical tracery it became known as Middle Pointed. Second Pointed work of C14 saw an ever-increasing invention in bar-tracery of the Curvilinear, Flowing, and Reticulated type, where the possibilities of the ogee form were fully exploited in canopies, tracery, and niches, culminating in the Flamboyant style (from c.1375) of the Continent. Second Pointed was relatively short-lived in England, and was superseded by Perpendicular (or Third Pointed) from c.1332, although the two styles overlapped for some time. On the Continent, however (where Perpendicular Gothic was unknown), lace-like patterns of tracery evolved, and churches of great height were erected with highly complex vaulting, as at the Church of St Barbara, Kutná Hora, Bohemia (1512). The Gothic style embraced a complete system of dynamic structure with developed geometries and daring experiments with stone, especially in the final flowering of Flamboyant in Central Europe. Although Gothic was superseded by a revival of interest in the language of Classicism from the Renaissance period, it enjoyed a widespread and scholarly revival in C19. See also gothic revival.

Bibliography

• Branner (1965)
• Colvin (1999)
• Frankl (1960, 2000)
• Grodecki (1986)
• H.Osborne (1970)
• J. Parker (1850)
• Rickman (1848)
• Toman (ed.) (1998)
• Viollet-le-Duc(1875)

The full bibliography for this book is available to download as a pdf file.
Download the bibliography for A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture (PDF: 1.2MB)

[De]

Architectural style characterized by pointed arches and the vault, succeeding the Norman or Romanesque style at the end of the 12th century ad. Subdivided into three periods: early (13th century ad), characterized by the lancet window without tracery; the decorated Gothic (c.1290–1350), in which windows have first geometrical, then flowing, tracery; and the perpendicular (c.1350–1530), where tracery has strong vertical lines. The Gothic style was followed by the Tudor style, but was later revived as neo-Gothic or Gothic during the 19th century ad.

In European architecture, the dominant style during the late Middle Ages, characterized by slender towers, pointed arches, soaring ceilings, and flying buttresses. Many great cathedrals, including Chartres and Notre Dame de Paris, were built in this style.

Dansk (Danish)
adj. - gotisk, middelalderlig, barbarisk, romantisk
n. - gotik, grotesk

idioms:

• gothic novel    gyser
• gothic revival    gotisk opblomstring
• gothic script    gotisk skrift

Nederlands (Dutch)
gotisch, barbaars, griezelig, gotiek

Français (French)
adj. - (Archit, Imprim) gothique, (Littérat, fig) noir
n. - (Archit, Imprim) gothique, gothique (langage)

idioms:

• gothic novel    roman gothique
• gothic revival    néogothique
• gothic script    lettre gothique

Deutsch (German)
n. - Gotik
adj. - gotisch

idioms:

• gothic novel    Schauerroman
• gothic revival    Neugotik
• gothic script    gotische Schrift, Fraktur

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γοτθική γλώσσα
adj. - γοτθικός

idioms:

• gothic novel    μυθιστόρημα μυστηρίου
• gothic revival    γοτθική αναβίωση
• gothic script    γοτθική γραφή

Italiano (Italian)
gotico

idioms:

• gothic novel    romanzo gotico
• gothic revival    neogotico
• gothic script    scrittura gotica

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - gótico
n. - arte (f) ou arquitetura (f) gótica, letra (f) ou tipo (m) gótico (Tipogr.), gótico (m) (idioma)

idioms:

• gothic novel    novela (f) gótica
• gothic revival    renascimento (m) gótico
• gothic script    escrita (f) gótica

Русский (Russian)
готический, готский, варварский, готика (в архитектуре), готический шрифт, готский язык

idioms:

• gothic novel    готический роман
• gothic revival    возрождение готического стиля
• gothic script    готический шрифт

Español (Spanish)
adj. - estilo gótico, gótico, godo, horripilante
n. - estilo gótico, gótico

idioms:

• gothic novel    novela gótica
• gothic revival    neogótico
• gothic script    escritura gótica, sin patines (sans serif)

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - gotiska (språket), gotik (byggnadsstil)
adj. - gotisk, barbarisk

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
哥特族的, 中古时代的, 粗野的, 哥特式的, 哥特语, 哥特式建筑

idioms:

• gothic novel    哥德式小说
• gothic revival    哥德式建筑复兴
• gothic script    哥德式字体

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 哥德族的, 中古時代的, 粗野的, 哥德式的
n. - 哥德語, 哥德式建築

idioms:

• gothic novel    哥德式小說
• gothic revival    哥德式建築復興
• gothic script    哥德式字體

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 고딕 양식의, 고딕체의, 괴기적인, 야만적인
n. - 고딕 양식, 고딕체, 고트어

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - ゴート族の, ゴート語の, ゴシック様式の, ゴシック字体の, ゴシック派の, ゴシック式の
n. - ゴート語, ゴシック様式, ゴシック字体

idioms:

• gothic novel    ゴシック小説
• gothic revival    ゴシック復古調
• gothic script    ゴシック調筆記

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) الطراز القوطي, حرف طباعي ثخين, اللغه القوطيه, العقد القوطي (صفه) قوطي, خاص بالقوطيين, له علاقه بفن العمارة القوطيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮גותי, של שבט הגותים או לשונם, ברברי, גס, בסיגנון אדריכלי גותי‬
n. - ‮גופן מיושן של אותיות-דפוס גרמניות, גותית (שפה)‬

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gothic	Gothic Jewelry
Gothic Clothes	Gothic Dress