exoticism

noun

Etymology: Etymology tree English exotic Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ῐ́ζω (-ĭ́zō) Proto-Indo-European *-mos Proto-Indo-European *-mós Ancient Greek -μός (-mós) Ancient Greek -ισμός (-ismós)der. English -ism English exoticism From exotic + -ism.

1. The state of being exotic.

   “For all the exoticism of the images, they possess a phenomenal immediacy and even contemporaneity.”

2. Something exotic.

   “Chinese restaurants, now dotting this peninsula like azaleas at Cypress Gardens, have introduced thousands of us Occidentals to the delights of moo goo gai pan. As a result, attempts to produce such exoticisms in our own homes have multiplied.”

   “The distribution of instruments is fairly traditional, but with piccolo trumpet and bass trombone to explore extremes, and bells, gongs and tam-tams to variegate the sound. Such exoticisms as the xylorimba (Richard Fitz) and glockenspiel (Jeffrey Milarsky) are introduced along with the sounds of shifting sand.”

3. A word changed in spelling or pronunciation to look or sound more exotic or foreign.

   “The English pronunciations of Beijing and Chumash with French-like j and ch are exoticisms, as is the spelling T'Sou-ke for the original Anglicization Sooke.”