(kărˈĭ-kə-cho͝orˌ, -chər)
nouna. A representation, especially pictorial or literary, in which the subject's distinctive features or peculiarities are deliberately exaggerated to produce a comic or grotesque effect.
b. The art of creating such representations.
- A grotesque imitation or misrepresentation: The trial was a caricature of justice.
transitive verb car·i·ca·tured,
car·i·ca·tur·ing,
car·i·ca·tures To represent or imitate in an exaggerated, distorted manner.
Related Forms:
Word History: The history of the word
caricature takes us back through the centuries to a time when the Romans occupied Gaul, offering the blessings of civilization to the Gauls but also borrowing from them as well. One such borrowing, the Gaulish word
*karros, meaning “a wagon or cart,” became Latin
carrus, “a Gallic type of wagon.” This Latin word has continued to roll through the English language, giving us
car, career, cargo, carry, and
charge, among others.
Caricature, another offspring of
carrus, came to us via French from Italian, in which
caricatura, the source of the French word, was derived from Italian
caricare, “to load, burden, or exaggerate.”
Caricare in turn came from Late Latin
carricāre, “to load,” derived from the Romans' Gaulish borrowing
carrus.