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ro·co·co (rə-kōkō, rō′kə-kō)
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n. also Rococo
1.
a. A style of art, especially architecture and decorative art, that originated in France in the early 1700s and is marked by elaborate ornamentation, as with a profusion of scrolls, foliage, and animal forms.
b. A very ornate style of speech or writing.
2. Music A style of composition arising in the 1700s in France, often viewed as an extension of the baroque, and characterized by a high degree of ornamentation and lightness of expression.
adj.
1. also Rococo Of or relating to the rococo.
2. Immoderately elaborate or complicated.
[French, probably alteration of rocaille, rockwork, from roc, rock, variant of roche, from Vulgar Latin *rocca.]
(click for a larger image)
rococo
1757 organ in the
loft of Wies Church
near Steingaden, Germany
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2022 by HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

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    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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