GOTHIC
Dictionary entry overview: What does Gothic mean?
• GOTHIC (noun)
The noun GOTHIC has 3 senses:
1. extinct East Germanic language of the ancient Goths; the only surviving record being fragments of a 4th-century translation of the Bible by Bishop Ulfilas
2. a heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuries
3. a style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries; characterized by slender vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by vaulting and pointed arches
Familiarity information: GOTHIC used as a noun is uncommon.
• GOTHIC (adjective)
The adjective GOTHIC has 5 senses:
1. characteristic of the style of type commonly used for printing German
2. of or relating to the language of the ancient Goths
3. of or relating to the Goths
4. as if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened
5. characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque
Familiarity information: GOTHIC used as an adjective is common.
Dictionary entry details
• GOTHIC (noun)
Meaning:
Extinct East Germanic language of the ancient Goths; the only surviving record being fragments of a 4th-century translation of the Bible by Bishop Ulfilas
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("Gothic" is a kind of...):
East Germanic; East Germanic language (an extinct branch of the Germanic languages)
Meaning:
A heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuries
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Synonyms:
black letter; Gothic
Hypernyms ("Gothic" is a kind of...):
face; font; fount; typeface (a specific size and style of type within a type family)
Meaning:
A style of architecture developed in northern France that spread throughout Europe between the 12th and 16th centuries; characterized by slender vertical piers and counterbalancing buttresses and by vaulting and pointed arches
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Synonyms:
Gothic architecture; Gothic
Hypernyms ("Gothic" is a kind of...):
architectural style; style of architecture; type of architecture (architecture as a kind of art form)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "Gothic"):
English-Gothic; English-Gothic architecture; perpendicular; perpendicular style (a Gothic style in 14th and 15th century England; characterized by vertical lines and a four-centered (Tudor) arch and fan vaulting)
• GOTHIC (adjective)
Meaning:
Characteristic of the style of type commonly used for printing German
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Pertainym:
Gothic (a heavy typeface in use from 15th to 18th centuries)
Meaning:
Of or relating to the language of the ancient Goths
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Context example:
the Gothic Bible translation
Pertainym:
Gothic (extinct East Germanic language of the ancient Goths; the only surviving record being fragments of a 4th-century translation of the Bible by Bishop Ulfilas)
Meaning:
Of or relating to the Goths
Classified under:
Relational adjectives (pertainyms)
Context example:
Gothic migrations
Pertainym:
Goth (one of the Teutonic people who invaded the Roman Empire in the 3rd to 5th centuries)
Meaning:
As if belonging to the Middle Ages; old-fashioned and unenlightened
Synonyms:
medieval; mediaeval; gothic
Context example:
a medieval attitude toward dating
Similar:
nonmodern (not modern; of or characteristic of an earlier time)
Meaning:
Characterized by gloom and mystery and the grotesque
Context example:
gothic novels like 'Frankenstein'
Similar:
strange; unusual (being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird)
Domain category:
literature (creative writing of recognized artistic value)
