monogram
(ˈmɒnəgræm)
Also 7 monogramme.
[Two formations. (1) In sense 1, ad. L. monogrammus adj., a. Gr. *µονόγραµµος, f. µόνο-ς single, only + γραµµ-ή line. Cicero attributes to Epicurus the use of this word (app. with the virtual sense ‘unsubstantial’) as descriptive of the gods according to his conception of them, and Lucilius uses monogrammus for a thin and colourless person, a ‘mere shadow’. Nonius (c 280) who has preserved the passage of Lucilius, explains the word as designating a picture drawn in line only, before the colour is applied. (2) In sense 2, ad. late L. monogramma neut. (5th c.), irregularly formed after late Gr. µονόγραµµον, neut. of µονόγραµµος, f. µόνο-ς single + γράµµα letter. Both the late L. and the late Gr. words were applied to the ‘monogram’ (in the modern sense) which represented the signature of the Byzantine emperors. In med.L. monogramma was common. Cf. F. monogramme masc. (1633 in Hatz.-Darm.).]
† 1. A picture drawn in lines without shading or colour; a sketch. Obs.
| 1610 Healey St. Aug. Citie of God ii. xxi. Vives' Comm. (1620) 84 Painters..first doe onely delineate and line forth the figure they will draw: which is called a Monogramme. a 1637 B. Jonson Underwoods, Poet to Painter 11 You were..To..draw My Superficies:..Which if in compasse of no Art it came To be described by a Monogram, With one great blot, yo' had formed me as I am. a 1660 Hammond Serm. ii. Wks. 1684 IV. 571 A kind of first draught, or ground colours only, and monogram of life. 1675 Cocker Morals 66 You here, our choicest Monograms may scan, Where man is fairly pictur'd forth to Man. 1801 Fuseli Lect. Paint. i. (1848) 350 The next step of the art was the monogram: outlines of figures without light or shade, but with some addition of the parts within the outline. 1843 [see monochrome n.]. |
2. A character composed of two or more letters interwoven together, the letters being usually the initials of a person's name; now often, such a character stamped or otherwise made on notepaper, seals, etc.
the Christian monogram or monogram of Christ, the combination (☧) of the first two letters of Χριστός (Christ).
| 1696 in Phillips (ed. 5). 1697 Evelyn Numism. v. 186 A monogram oftentimes served their turn. 1727–52 Chambers Cycl. s.v., The Roman labarum bore the monogram of Jesus Christ. 1761 Phil. Trans. LII. 31 The fourth letter is succeeded by a monogram, or complex character, formed of E and the aforesaid accented I. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xx. (1787) II. 194 The mysterious monogram, at once expressive of the figure of the cross, and the initial letters of the name of Christ. 1839 Penny Cycl. XV. 341/1 The monograms used by the German and Italian engravers. The French artists rarely used monograms. 1845 Encycl. Metrop. XXIII. 568/2 Most of the ancient Printers made use of monograms or ciphers, containing the initial letters of their names, or other devices curiously interwoven. 1847 Ld. Lindsay Sk. Hist. Chr. Art I. 102 A cross..supporting the monogram of Christ. 1865 Dickens Mut. Fr. i. x, Twemlow received a highly-perfumed cocked-hat and monogram from Mrs. Veneering. 1883 A. K. Green Hand & Ring viii, I have read the Monogram upon your handkerchief. 1900 A. Lang Hist. Scot. I. ii. 24 On these stone pillars is found the Christian monogram, surrounded by a circle. |
† 3. (See quot.) Obs. rare—0.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Monogram,..a sentence in one line, or an Epigram in one verse. As Pauper videri Cinna vult, & est pauper, Mart. 1658–1706 Phillips. 1721 Bailey. |
† 4. (See quot.) Obs. rare.
| 1801 J. Hager Babylon. Inscr. 53 Some arbitrary sign, figure or character, destined to express complete words, and which I therefore call monograms. Ibid. 56 The characters on the Babylonian bricks being..monograms..designed to express either whole sentences or whole words. |
5. attrib.
| 1871 ‘M. Legrand’ Cambr. Freshm. 364 With gorgeous monogram buttons. 1884 Knight Dict. Mech., Suppl., Monogram Machine, a foot press for stamping monograms, initials, sizes, etc., on paper or manufactured articles. 1919 T. Wright Romance of Lace Pillow xvi. 223 Monogram Lace, in the form of medallions—the sacred monogram I.H.S. from an antique pattern being most in demand—has been made for Mr. George Smith at Olney during the last thirty years, and sent to the Continent for ecclesiastical purposes. |
Hence ˈmonogram v. trans., to decorate with a monogram; ˈmonogrammed a., bearing a monogram; ˈmonogrammist, one who applies a monogram.
| 1868 E. Yates Rock Ahead i. vii, The much monogrammed note. 1884 Harper's Mag. Jan. 299/2 Its monogrammed coupés. 1890 ‘L. Falconer’ Mlle. Ixe vi, The..monogramed envelopes. 1939 ‘A. Bridge’ Four-Part Setting vi. 64 I took those new pillow-cases round to be monogramed. 1939 Burlington Mag. Jan. 40/2 No ‘monogrammist’ was too petty..to be scrutinised with the same minute and untiring precision. 1951 Good Housek. Home Encycl. 139/2 Monogrammed handkerchiefs must be ironed on the wrong side. 1971 Daily Tel. 27 Jan. 11 (caption) Red wool suit,..monogrammed in red with Balmain initials. 1974 Ibid. 30 Sept. 12 Young Conservatives have their shirts monogrammed ‘Y.C.’ 1974 Ashmolean Mus. Rep. Visitors 1972–3 38 A 19th-century woodcut by the monogrammist H. Ch., Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Rathaus. 1975 ‘E. Lathen’ By Hook or by Crook xvii. 160 Lois..instructed Cartier to monogram a demitasse set. |