Dictionary

exoticism en · NOUN

Etymology

Etymology tree English exotic Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íd͏̌d͏̌ō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English exoticism From exotic + -ism.

Meanings

1. (uncountable, usually) The state of being exotic.
   • For all the exoticism of the images, they possess a phenomenal immediacy and even contemporaneity. 2004 January 25, Mark Feeney, “A piece of Asia's past, in living color”, in The Boston Globe:
2. (uncountable, usually) Something exotic.
   • Chinese restaurants, now dotting this peninsula like azaleas at Cypress Gardens, have introduced thousands of us Occidentals to the delights of moo goo gai pan. As a result, attempts to produce such exoticisms in our own homes have multiplied. 1985 February 14, Jane Nickerson, “Chinese New Year”, in The Ledger:
   • The distribution of instruments is fairly traditional, but with piccolo trumpet and bass trombone to explore extremes, and bells, gongs and tam-tams to variegate the sound. Such exoticisms as the xylorimba (Richard Fitz) and glockenspiel (Jeffrey Milarsky) are introduced along with the sounds of shifting sand. 2000 July 20, Bernard Holland, “LINCOLN CENTER FESTIVAL REVIEW; Messiaen's Nature Worship Calls on Bird Song and Faith”, in The New York Times:
3. (uncountable, usually) A word changed in spelling or pronunciation to look or sound more exotic or foreign.
   • The English pronunciations of Beijing and Chumash with French-like j and ch are exoticisms, as is the spelling T'Sou-ke for the original Anglicization Sooke.

Forms

Coordinates

hyperforeignism

Synonyms

hyperforeignism (made falsely exotic) · exotism (state of being exotic) · exoticity (state of being exotic) · exoticness (state of being exotic)

Translations (18)

fi eksoottisuus (the state of being exotic) · it esotismo (the state of being exotic) · it esoticità (the state of being exotic) · fr exotisme (the state of being exotic) · ru экзо́тика (something exotic) · cmn 異國情調 /异国情调 (the state of being exotic) · ru экзоти́чность (the state of being exotic) · fi eksotiikka (the state of being exotic) · cy dieithrwch (the state of being exotic) · pt exotismo (the state of being exotic) · ca exotisme (the state of being exotic) · de Exot (something exotic) · cmn 有異國情調的事物 /有异国情调的事物 (something exotic) · fi eksoottisuus (something exotic) · de Exotik (the state of being exotic) · fi erikoisuus (something exotic) · el εξωτισμός (the state of being exotic) · es exotismo (the state of being exotic)