cubism
/ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/
cubism noun: an artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.
Noun
cubism (countable and uncountable, plural cubisms)
- An artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.
- Matisse coined the name Cubism as a derisive joke.2003 March 3, The New Yorker
- A few recall that, in 1908, he [Matisse] inspired the coinage of the term “cubism,” in disparagement of a movement that would eclipse his leading influence on the Parisian avant-garde.2005 August 29, The New Yorker, page 78
cubism meaning in Tamil, Arabic, Thai and Vietnamese
cubism in Tamil
- An artistic movement characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes
- கியூபிசம் kiyūpicam
cubism in Arabic
- An artistic movement characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes
- تَكْعِيبِيَّة takʕībiyya
cubism in Thai
- An artistic movement characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes
- บาศกนิยม
cubism in Vietnamese
- An artistic movement characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes
- lập thể
Forms of cubism
| plural | cubisms |
|---|---|
| alternative form | Cubism |
Origin of cubism
From French cubisme. One story is that, in 1908, as a new canvas by Braque was being carried past, someone said, “Encore des cubes! assez de cubisme!”. The quotations below ascribe the coinage to Matisse. Sometimes attributed to French art critic Louis Vauxcelles who popularized the term. See also the word cube (from Latin cubus, from Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos)).
Words formed from cubism
Questions about cubism
- What does cubism mean?
- Cubism means an artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.
- What is cubism in Tamil?
- Cubism in Tamil is கியூபிசம் (kiyūpicam). See Cubism meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is cubism?
- Cubism is a noun.
- How do you pronounce cubism?
- Cubism is pronounced /ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cubism?
- The plural of cubism is cubisms.
Words near cubism in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cubism (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-cubism.wav.
Cite this entry: “cubism.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cubism. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.