Gothic

Besides its original meaning, "of or relating to the Goths, a Germanic tribe" and thus the Gothic language and the Gothic alphabet, the word Gothic has been used to refer to distinctly different things:

• From a Renaissance perspective (originally Italian, gotico, with connotations of "rough, barbarous"), it conveyed the opposite of classical, hence:
  • A period of northern European art, especially architecture, see Gothic art, Gothic architecture. See also: International Gothic, Gothic revival.
  • Another name for Blackletter, a script developed in the Middle Ages.
• from the 18th century, the word came to mean Germanic in general (synonymously with Teutonic), with grim overtones e.g. from the contrast of Germanic mythology with classical Greek mythology.
  • A British literary genre from the late 18th and early 19th century, with a Victorian revival a hundred years later: see Gothic novel.
• From its use in Romanticism, the word in the 20th century came to refer to anything dark or gloomy.
  • a certain lifestyle (see Goth), music (see Gothic rock), and fashion (see Gothic fashion).
  • A roleplaying computer game: Gothic (computer game)
  • Gothic, a 1986 film by Ken Russell.
  • Gothic, an album released by the heavy metal/goth metal band Paradise Lost in 1992.
• more recent uses:
  • Another name for sans-serif typefaces.
  • Japanese Gothic typeface is a common printing style in Japanese printing.
  • A chess variant: Gothic Chess.