graffito

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“
A very simple graffito (a single work of graffiti) can have only one color.

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Definitions (10)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. noun A drawing or inscription made on a wall or other surface, usually so as to be seen by the public. Often used in the plural.
  2. usage note
    The word graffiti is a plural noun in Italian. In English graffiti is far more common than the singular form graffito and is mainly used as a singular noun in much the same way data is. When the reference is to a particular inscription (as in There was a bold graffiti on the wall), the form graffito would be etymologically correct but might strike some readers as pedantic outside an archaeological context. There is no substitute for the singular use of graffiti when the word is used as a mass noun to refer to inscriptions in general or to the related social phenomenon. The sentence Graffiti is a major problem for the Transit Authority Police cannot be reworded Graffito is ... (since graffito can refer only to a particular inscription) or Graffiti are ... (which suggests that the police problem involves only the physical marks and not the larger issue of vandalism). In such contexts, the use of graffiti as a singular is justified by both utility and widespread precedent.

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Examples (45)

  • But my thought occurred to me when I saw a graffito which took up a whole gable end wall in London the other day.
  • A large unreadable graffito has been slathered across the door. —  AHMM,May2006
  • And the voice of the tribal priest will be heard, apostrophizing this huge graffito. —  Dialogic
  • Police Inspector Joe Toomey, who cited U2's Bono Hewson for painting graffito on the Vaillancourt Fountain during that free rock concert last wk., asked Bono to write a message to Toomey's three children, Joe, 12; Ed, 11, and Bill, 8 … —  The Online News Page
  • But is that an expression of reverence or a kind of personal graffito? —  New Haven Independent
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Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian, diminutive of graffio, a scratching, scribble, probably from graffiare, to scratch, scribble, probably from Vulgar Latin *graphiāre, to write with a stylus, from Latin graphium, stylus, from Greek grapheion, graphion, from graphein, to write; see gerbh- in Indo-European roots.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Italian, a scribbling, from graffiare, scratch, scribble, claw, from Middle Latin graphiare, graffiare, write, from graphium, graffium, a style: see graff. Cf. graffer.
 

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/grɑfˈfitə/
by American Heritage

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