gothic, gothIck

& s. [Lat. Gothic us.] A. As adjective: I. Ordinary Language : 1. Lit .: Of or pertaining to the Goths; as, Gothic customs, . "Confining his labors almost wholly to religious and legendary histories, he [Albert Durer] turned the Testa ment into the history of a Flemish village; the habits of Herod, Pilate, Joseph, ., their dwellings, their utensils, and their customs were all Gothic and European."- Wal pole: Catalogue of Engravers , vol. v. 2. Fig .: Rude, uncivilized, barbarous. "The Gothic cloud Of time and language o'er thy genius thrown." Thomson: Summer , 1,578. II. Arch .: A term sometimes used to distinguish medieval from cla ical architecture. In a more limited sense it comprehends those styles only of med iæval architecture which are characterized by the pointed arch. In the narrower sense, Gothic architecture dates from the middle of the twelfth century; in the wider, it includes as well AngloS axon, which prevailed from the close of the sixth to the middle of the eleventh century, and also Anglo-Norman, which flourished during the suc ceeding hundred years. The latter was followed by the Semi-Norman or Transition; this gave place, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, to Early English, and this, at the commencement of the fourteenth century, to Decorated English, replaced at the beginning of the fifteenth century by the Florid, or Perpendicular. Gothic architecture attained its perfection in the Decorated English period. The free, flowing lines and the chaste ornamentation by which it is distinguished degenerated into the stiff, staring lines and the too-elaborate decoration of the Perpendicular; and the proce of debasement continued until, in the early part of the seventeenth century, Gothic fell into entire disuse. Toward the close of the eighteenth century a reaction began, and the movement has gone on gathering strength ever since. [DECORATED, EARLY ENGLISH, PERPENDICULAR, POINTED.] 2. Print.: A name given to a bold-faced type, *goth-ic-al, a. [Eng.gothic; al .] The same as GOTHIC (q. v.).