Art & MusicGreek → English
Graphic
/ˈɡræfɪk/adjective
Relating to drawing and visual design, or vivid to the point of being uncomfortable.
The Greek roots
γράφω
gráphō
scratch, write, draw
Literally: “having to do with scratching or drawing”
Follow a root:γράφω10 words
The story of the word
γράφω meant to scratch or incise before it meant to write, which is what writing was when the surface was wax or clay. Greek used γραφικός for painting and for writing without troubling to separate them. English borrowed it in the 1630s for drawn or traced work, extended it to vivid description, and only in the 1960s specialised graphics for pictures made by machines.
- How it travelled
- Ancient Greek → Latin → English
- First recorded
- 1630s
The same roots elsewhere
Other languages reached for exactly the same Greek pieces.
Same family
graphphotographautographcalligraphyepigram
In a sentence
The report includes a graphic account of the crash, so read it in daylight.
She works in graphic design, mostly for small publishers.