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Wednesday, August 3, 2011

History Etymology of the Day: Stereotype and Cliche

Posted by on Wed, Aug 3, 2011 at 12:08 PM

Two handy words from your friends, the 18th-century printers of France.

stereotype
1798, "method of printing from a plate," from Fr. stéréotype (adj.) "printing by means of a solid plate of type," from Gk. stereos "solid" (see sterile) + Fr. type "type." Noun meaning "a stereotype plate" is from 1817. Meaning "image perpetuated without change" is first recorded 1850, from the verb in this sense, which is from 1819. Meaning "preconceived and oversimplified notion of characteristics typical of a person or group" is recorded from 1922. Stereotypical is attested from 1949.

cliche
1832, from Fr. cliché, a technical word in printer's jargon for "stereotype," supposedly echoic of the sound of a mold striking molten metal, thus pp. of clicher "to click" (18c.). Figurative extension to "worn-out expression" is first attested 1888, following the course of stereotype. Related: Cliched (1928).

Speaking of 18th-century French printers, did you ever read about the Great Cat Massacre?

 

Comments (3) RSS

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Foghorn Leghorn 1
I did read 'The Great Cat Massacre' in college. Fantastic book.
Posted by Foghorn Leghorn on August 3, 2011 at 12:52 PM
2
i lurve etymology of the day!
Posted by Adrian Ryan on August 3, 2011 at 12:54 PM
MacCrocodile 3
@2 - Agreed. This should happen every day. I spend an embarrassing amount of time on etymonline anyway, you might as well just do it for me.
Posted by MacCrocodile on August 3, 2011 at 2:24 PM

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