Goth´i|cal|ly

Goth|ic «GOTH ihk», noun, adjective.

–n.

1. a style of architecture using pointed arches, flying buttresses, and high, steep roofs. It was developed in western Europe during the Middle Ages from about 1150 to 1550.

2. the East Germanic language of the Goths. It is known chiefly from the translations of the Bible by Bishop Ulfilas in the 300's.

3. Printing. a) Often, gothic. U.S. a square-cut style of type without serifs or hairlines. b) British. black letter.

–adj.

1. a) of or having to do with Gothic architecture: »

a Gothic cathedral.

b) of or having to do with the period during which Gothic architecture flourished: »

Gothic art, a Gothic manuscript.

2. of the Goths or their language.

3. Figurative. uncivilized; crude; barbarous: »

O! more than Gothic ignorance (Henry Fielding).

4. having to do with or characteristic of a style of fiction using grotesque and supernatural elements and often medieval settings or details to produce horror and romance: »

a Gothic story. The Grecian splendor of the old novels and the Gothic horror of the new ones are products of the same psychology (Saturday Review).

5. Obsolete. Germanic.

╂[< Late Latin Gothicus < Gothī; see etym. under Goth (Cf. ↑Goth)]

–Goth´i|cal|ly, adverb.