Etymograph

English

caricature

Caricature comes from Italian caricatùra ‘caricature, antic’, from Latin carrus ‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-1‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sós1‘vehicle, literally runner’reconstructedzero-grade form of *ḱers-
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*karros1‘wagon’reconstructed
  4. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*karros1‘wagon’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarrus2‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcaricatùra2‘caricature, antic’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentcaricature2
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1834caricature2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin carrus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English caricature
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “Their faults grew suddenly perceptible, and their absurdities an…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱers-Wiktionary, Latin carrus‘to run’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱr̥sósWiktionary, Latin carrus‘vehicle, literally runner’reconstructedzero-grade form of *ḱers-
  3. Proto-Celticc. 1300–800 BCE*karrosWiktionary, Latin carrus‘wagon’reconstructed
  4. Gaulishc. 500 BCE–500 CE*karrosWiktionary, Latin carrus‘wagon’reconstructed
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcarrusWiktionary, English caricature‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’
  6. Italianc. 1300–presentcaricatùraWiktionary, English caricature‘caricature, antic’
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentcaricatureWiktionary, English caricature
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1834caricatureWiktionary, English caricature. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, London: Richard Bentley: “Their faults grew suddenly perceptible, and their absurdities an…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- ‘to run’

course, current, rush, occur, currency, hurry, corridor, curriculum, courier, precursor, incur, concur, cursor, carousel, corsair, hurrah, recursive, courant, recursion, recur, succour, hussar, 41 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱr̥sós ‘vehicle, literally runner’

corral, 12 more

through Gaulish *karros ‘wagon’

discharge, recharge, 10 more

through Latin carrus ‘a wagon, a two-wheeled baggage cart’

car, charge, career, carry, cargo, carrier, carriage, chariot, carrack, 12 more

Today it means

noun A pictorial representation of someone in which distinguishing features are exaggerated for comic effect.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “caricature”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin carrus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱers- / caricature

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