different between craft vs kitsch

English

Etymology

From Middle English craft, from Old English cræft, from Proto-West Germanic *kraftu, from Proto-Germanic *kraftuz, further origin obscure.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /k???ft/

  Rhymes: -??ft

• (US) IPA^(key): /k?æft/

Noun

craft (countable and uncountable, plural craft or crafts)

1. (uncountable, obsolete) Strength; power; might; force [9th century].
2. (uncountable) Intellectual power; skill; art.
   1. Ability, skilfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning; ingenuity in constructing, dexterity [9th century].
   2. Cunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception [13th century].

      Synonyms: craftiness, cunning, foxiness, guile, slyness, wiliness

   3. (obsolete) Occult art, magic [13th century].
3. (countable, obsolete in the general sense) A work or product of art [c. 1000].
   1. (collective or plural) Handmade items, especially domestic or decorative objects; handicrafts [20th century].
4. (countable, obsolete) A device, a means; a magical device, spell or enchantment [13th century].
5. (countable, obsolete) Learning of the schools, scholarship; a branch of learning or knowledge, a science, especially one of the ‘seven liberal arts’ of the medieval universities [13th century].
6. (uncountable) Skill, skilfulness, art, especially the skill needed for a particular profession [9th century].

   Synonyms: craftsmanship, workmanship

7. (countable, plural crafts) A branch of skilled work or trade, especially one requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill, but sometimes applied equally to any business, calling or profession; the skilled practice of a practical occupation [since the 9th century].

   Synonyms: art, trade, handicraft, business, profession

8. (countable) A trade or profession as embodied in its practitioners collectively; the members of a trade or handicraft as a body; an association of these; a trade's union, guild, or ‘company’ [15th century].

9. (countable, plural craft) A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space [since the 17th century].
   1. (nautical) Boats, especially of smaller size than ships. Historically primarily applied to vessels engaged in loading or unloading of other vessels, as lighters, hoys, and barges.
   2. (nautical, British Royal Navy) Those vessels attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, and gun-boats, generally commanded by lieutenants.
   3. (figuratively) A woman.

      • “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action.

10. (countable, fishing) Implements used in catching fish, such as net, line, or hook. Modern use primarily in whaling, as in harpoons, hand-lances, etc. [17th century].

Usage notes

The plural craft is used to refer to vehicles. All other senses use the plural crafts.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

craft (third-person singular simple present crafts, present participle crafting, simple past and past participle crafted)

1. To make by hand and with much skill.
2. To construct, develop something (like a skilled craftsman).

   state crafting; the process of crafting global policing

3. (video games) To combine multiple items to form a new item, such as armour or medicine.

Derived terms

• crafter
• uncrafted

Translations

References

• Krueger, Dennis (December 1982). "Why On Earth Do They Call It Throwing?" Studio Potter Vol. 11, Number 1 (journal website).

Anagrams

• fract

Old Dutch

Alternative forms

• kraft, creft

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *kraft-.

Noun

craft f

1. strength, power, force

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: cracht, craft
  • Dutch: kracht
    • Afrikaans: krag
  • Limburgish: krach

Further reading

• “kraht”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012

English

Etymology

From German Kitsch, from dialectal kitschen (“to coat, to smear”), the word and concept were popularized in the 1930s by several critics who contrasted it with avant garde art.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) enPR: k?ch, IPA^(key): /k?t?/
• Rhymes: -?t?

Noun

kitsch (usually uncountable, plural kitsches)

1. Art, decorative objects and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
   • 1939, Clement Greenberg, "Avant Garde and Kitsch", The Partisan Review,

     Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally.

Synonyms

• camp

Derived terms

• kitschy
• extremokitsch

Translations

Adjective

kitsch (comparative kitscher or more kitsch, superlative kitschest or most kitsch)

1. Of art and decor: of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
   • 1989, Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989, ?ISBN, p. 243,

     […] a picture of lemur-eyed children of the sort one sees in the kitscher sort of Italian restaurant […]

   • 1996, Robert Silberman, "The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio", American Craft, Jun/Jul 1996, pp. 40-45,

     Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity.

   • 2005, Ronald Frame, "Critical Paranoia", Michigan Quarterly Review, Spring 2005, p. 285,

     I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear.

Usage notes

• Although the forms kitscher and kitschest are attested, those formed on kitschy are more common, particularly for the comparative.

Synonyms

• corny

Translations

Anagrams

• schtik, shtick, skitch, thicks

French

Alternative forms

• kitch

Pronunciation

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch

Further reading

• “kitsch” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?kit??/

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitsch

   Synonym: pacchiano

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Further reading

• kitsch in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Portuguese

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Adjective

kitsch (plural kitsch, comparable)

1. kitsch; kitschy (of questionable aesthetic value)

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch (art of questionable aesthetic value)

Further reading

• “kitsch” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Romanian

Etymology

From German Kitsch

Noun

kitsch n (plural kitschuri)

1. kitsch

Declension

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Noun

kitsch m (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Adjective

kitsch (invariable)

1. kitschy

   Synonyms: cursi, hortera

Further reading

• “kitsch” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kitsch.

Pronunciation

• (Sweden) IPA^(key): /k?t?/

Noun

kitsch c (uncountable)

1. kitsch

Derived terms

• kitschig

Further reading

• kitsch in Svensk ordbok.