mannerism

See also: Mannerism

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmænəˌɹɪzəm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mon-

Proto-Germanic *mann-

Proto-West Germanic *mann

Old English mann

Middle English man

English man

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂

Proto-Indo-European *-os?

Proto-Indo-European *-o-

Proto-Indo-European *-so-

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂so-

Proto-Indo-European *-yós

Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂s(i)yós

Proto-Italic *-āsijos

Proto-Italic *-āsios

Latin -āriusnom.

Latin -āriusbor.

Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz

Proto-West Germanic *-ārī

Old English -ere

Middle English -ere

▲

Latin -ārius

Old French -ierbor.

Middle English -er

English -er

English manner

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 mannerism

From manner + -ism.

Noun

mannerism (countable and uncountable, plural mannerisms)

1. A noticeable personal habit, a verbal or other (often, but not necessarily unconscious) habitual behavior peculiar to an individual.
   • 1923, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], “(please specify the page)”, in The Eyes of Max Carrados, London: Grant Richards, →OCLC:

     The Inspector looked round. He knew well enough that they were alone in the study at The Turrets, but the action had become something of a mannerism with him.

   • 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter I, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:

     In the old days, to my commonplace and unobserving mind, he gave no evidences of genius whatsoever. He never read me any of his manuscripts, […], and therefore my lack of detection of his promise may in some degree be pardoned. But he had then none of the oddities and mannerisms which I hold to be inseparable from genius, and which struck my attention in after days when I came in contact with the Celebrity.

2. Exaggerated or affected style in art, speech, or other behavior.
   • 1984, Rasheed Araeen, Guy Brett, Making myself visible:

     artists […] dabblingly pursuing a kind of formalist mannerism merely in the interest of careerism

   • 1992, C Fraser Smith, Lenny, Lefty, and the Chancellor:

     He generally spoke without academic mannerism, though on occasion he dipped into the over-wrought thickets of eduspeak to find words like “antithetical” or “foci” or “interface.”

Synonyms

• idiosyncrasy
• quirk

Translations

habitual behavior — see also peculiarity

• Danish: manér c
• Finnish: maneeri (fi)
• French: manie (fr) f, tic (fr) m, maniérisme (fr) m
• German: Maniertheit f, Manier (de) f
• Irish: faisean m, gothaíocht f, nósúlacht f, snas m
• Portuguese: maneirismo m
• Russian: мане́рность (ru) f (manérnostʹ), маньери́зм (ru) m (manʹjerízm) (West European style in literature, etc.)

exaggerated or affected style

• Bulgarian: превзетост (bg) f (prevzetost)
• Esperanto: afektaĵo
• Finnish: maneeri (fi)
• French: maniérisme (fr) m
• German: Manierismus (de) m
• Italian: manierismo (it) m
• Kazakh: маньеризм (manʹyeriyzm)
• Portuguese: maneirismo m
• Spanish: manierismo (es) m, amaneramiento (es) m

References

• APA Dictionary of Psychology, 2007

Etymology 2

From Italian