graffiti

graffiti
graffiti
is in origin a plural word, but its use has developed rapidly. Before the 1960s it was mainly used by art historians and archaeologists to refer to drawings or writing scratched on the walls of ancient buildings (notably at Pompeii). Spray-can daubings since the 1960s have brought the word dramatically into general use, with the result that graffiti is generally accepted as a mass noun like confetti or spaghetti:

• That haunting graffiti inscribed on the approaches to Paddington station —Times, 1980

• ‘I don't need drugs,’ the T-shirt graffiti proclaims —Observer, 1981

• There was little or no hooliganism in those days, and what graffiti there was would be written largely in Latin, with here and there the odd something of Greek —Independent on Sunday, 1998

• The main concern was the impression graffiti creates of the district —news website, BrE 2004 [OEC].

The COD since its 10th edition of 1999 has marked the word as ‘treated as sing[ular] or pl[ural]’, and the singular graffito is now rarely used except in technical contexts or by way of pedantry.

Modern English usage. 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • GRAFFITI — Toutes les expressions regroupées sous le terme de graffiti possèdent en commun quelques caractéristiques, ce qui justifie qu’on les considère comme une classe distincte de phénomènes. L’étude étymologique du terme ne suffit pas à comprendre la… …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • Graffiti 2 — is a new version of the Palm OS handwriting system, Graffiti, that was introduced in 2003. In January of that year PalmSource announced the change and explained that Graffiti 2 was based on CIC’s Jot and would replace the old (original) version… …   Wikipedia

  • Graffiti 2 — es una nueva versión del sistema de reconocimiento de escritura manual del Palm OS, Graffiti. Aparece con la versión de Palm OS 4.1.2 para equipos basados en Motorola Dragonball y con Palm OS 5.2 para los basados en ARM. La principal razón del… …   Wikipedia Español

  • Graffiti — (it.; pl. «graffiti») m. *Inscripción o dibujo callejero, generalmente anónimo. * * * Se llama graffiti a varias formas de inscripción o pintura, generalmente sobre propiedades públicas o ajenas (como paredes, vehículos, puertas y mobiliario… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Graffiti — • The term in common usage among archaeologists to designate a class of rude inscriptions scratched on the walls of ancient monuments, generally sepulchral, as distinguised from the formal inscriptions engraved on the tombs of the deceased… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • Graffiti — Spl mit Farbe auf Wände usw. gesprühte Texte und Bilder per. Wortschatz fremd. Erkennbar fremd (20. Jh.) Entlehnung. Entlehnt aus ne. graffiti Pl., dieses aus it. graffito m. Eingeritztes , zu it. graffiare kratzen .    Ebenso nndl. graffiti,… …   Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen sprache

  • graffiti — graffíti (ist.) s. n. pl. Trimis de siveco, 24.04.2007. Sursa: Dicţionar ortografic  GRAFFÍTI s.n.pl. (arheol.) Inscripţii, desene de pe monumentele antice. ♦ (Curent) Inscripţii zgâriate pe pereţi. [sg. graffito. / < fr. graffiti] …   Dicționar Român

  • graffiti —    Graffiti (spray painting in public spaces) has long been acknowledged as an art form (see the website at www.graffiti.org). However, in mainstream society it is still seen as an entirely deviant activity and ‘offenders’ are described as… …   Encyclopedia of contemporary British culture

  • graffiti — ► PLURAL NOUN (sing. graffito) (treated as sing. or pl. ) ▪ unauthorized writing or drawings on a surface in a public place. ► VERB ▪ write or draw graffiti on. DERIVATIVES graffitist noun. USAGE In Italian the word graffiti is a plu …   English terms dictionary

  • Graffiti — (Матера,Италия) Категория отеля: Адрес: Via Casalnuovo 295, 75100 Матера, Италия …   Каталог отелей

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