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gro·tes·que·rie or gro·tes·que·ry

(grō-tĕskə-rē)

n. pl. gro·tes·que·ries

1. The state of being grotesque; grotesqueness: "A jumble of stuffed animals were packed in the bed around her ... and their innocent shapes crowded around her head in sweet, shadowed grotesquerie" (Donna Tarrt).

2. Something grotesque: "He put the catfish, the tadpoles, and a few other grotesqueries in his jar filled with swamp water, and then picked up all the other wriggling things and threw them back into the lake" (Rick Bass).

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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