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pas·tiche

(pă-stēsh, pä-)

1. A dramatic, artistic, literary, or musical piece openly imitating the previous works of other artists, often with satirical intent.

2. A pasticcio of incongruous parts; a hodgepodge: "In ... a city of splendid Victorian architecture ... there is a rather pointless pastiche of Dickensian London down on the waterfront" (Economist).

[French, from Italian pasticcio; see PASTICCIO.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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